What It Means To Live
by Winter's Holly
Summary: Nobody said you had to take care of me! Why do you have to care so much!" Sasuke angrily grabbed her arms. "I do it because I want to." Haruno Sakura, a musician gone blind, is taken into the care of Uchiha Sasuke. Please Review! SasuSaku
1. Chapter I: Interlude

Wow! This is the longest chapter I've ever written for my new story! You know I freakin love this plot! It so freakin rocks! Anyways, sorry I couldn't update on the other ones because I was having some major family issues. I seriously think my mom hates me -shakes head in pain-. I was crying all night, man. Yeah, I'm getting too sensitive nowadays. So I'll try my best okay? Anyways, please enjoy this new story of mine.

Summary: Two young musicians with the same view on life, yet they have different ways on dealing with it. However, their supposedly one time meeting became much more when Sasuke meets Sakura once more. The only difference now...is that even though, he can still see, he's still blind where as she's literally blind and can see perfectly.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song "The Kill" from 30 Seconds to Mars nor do I own "To Zanarkand" by Uematsu Nobuo. But I do own their cds! Also, I don't own the characters of Naruto, just the plot!

* * *

What It Means To Live

_By: Winter's Holly_

_"I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can't be helped." Frederick Perls_

-o0o-

_Chapter I: Interlude_

_31__st__ of December…Yuki no Kuni…7: 45 pm…_

Outside, the hail stones bashed against the large castle which was intended to be one of the most prestigious schools in the world. It was dark and blurry as the winds howled and pushed harshly at the majestic mountains on which the school itself was situated. The water in the nearby lake thrashed into violent waves one after the other as the storm raged on. The forest was black and ominous, the branches shaking wildly like arms as if they were truly alive and wished to be free of this horrendous torture.

Meanwhile, as the storm continued to brew on, another storm was just beginning as the headmaster of the school becomes furious with one of his prestigious students. Though, his expression was calm, his fists were shaking furiously as he stood straight, staring down at the young woman who sat perfectly still with a straight posture. It seemed a bit odd that she would make the headmaster so angry with her if she was one of the top students. She had the highest scores in the school with high athletic skills. She even wore her uniform appropriately and accordingly to the school dress code as well. But things really aren't as they seem. The girl with an academic and athletic transcript that could out beat the most prestigious of people and a musical talent that made everyone gaped their mouths in awe was Namikaze Sakura; who was also known for her quietness and her cruel treatment to others.

The headmaster sighed deeply, bringing his fists behind his back as he moved to his large window to gaze out frustrated at the storm. The lights flickered for a moment as the silence continued to drag on. "Namikaze-kun," the man finally started in a tired tone before facing his student with a disapproving frown. "Why do you do this? You're the model student that every teacher in this school loves, yet, why do you torment the other students?"

Sakura just sat there quietly as she impassively stared at the headmaster with no emotion whatsoever in her eyes. The green of her eyes seemed to glow with the dimness of the room as she refuses to say anything. All she did was shake her head, much to the annoyance of the headmaster.

He leaned on his desk and stared hard at the young girl. She seemed too different from the rest of his students. She was a good student, but she was always getting into fights—she winning most of them. He even remembered the first time she came here to Kazahana Institute four years ago—five years tomorrow. She was only twelve when she first arrived and she was just as silent when she first came. In fact, he doesn't think he ever heard her utter a single word since she came. All they were were nods and shakes of her head. He thought she was a very odd child when she came; did all her work and got straight A's and went into the honor system, but did things one wouldn't expect of a child like her. She didn't like it when people came near her or touch her. When they did, she'd push them or slap their hands away. But for all that, he noticed that she had a passion for music. Every early morning, lunch time, and even after lights out, he'd hear her playing mostly the piano and violin—her favorite instruments, he assumed. Though, he did noticed that when something bad happens to a person, she would go and help them and would not say a word afterwards. She just helps them and leaves, not accepting any words of gratitude.

"Sakura, mite, do you even know why you're here in the first place?" he asked her, wanting to know what urged her to come here of all places.

Sakura only nodded her head, indicating that she did know why she chose this place.

The old man tilted his head and smiled kindly at her. "And can you tell me?"

She shook her head.

He frowned at her response. "Why won't you say anything?"

Again she shook her head.

Right when he was going to ask her another question, however, the door knocked lightly as the headmaster looked up and sighed. "Come in," he allowed as the door opened slowly to reveal a young woman in her mid twenties stepping in wearing a business suit.

She gave a low bow to the headmaster and when her eyes landed on Sakura, she bowed to her as well. "Headmaster, Haruno-san," she greeted and looked at the headmaster. "Headmaster, please allow Haruno-san to get ready for her performance at the Yuki Stadium, and to please hand me a copy of Haruno-san's transcript."

As the woman spoke, the headmaster's eyes widen and he snapped at Sakura whose gaze was at the snow outside. "Nani? Sakura, you're leaving? When were you going to tell me this?"

Right at that moment, Sakura looked at him from the corner of her eyes and stood up while straightening out her uniform. Formally, she went up to the man and gave a bow before handing him her letter wishing to transfer. After she gave it to him, she took a step back and gave another bow.

Frowning at the young girl and then at the envelope, he opened to see that she written it in her elegant script, directing it towards him personally.

_Dear Mr. Headmaster,_

_This must be a great shock to you, I'm sorry. However, I realized that I can no longer stay here. I simply don't fit in, despite what the professors say about me. I don't belong here, so I'll return home. But before I do so, I will be playing my pieces at Yuki Stadium. Yes, I know you watched me play, so you could go watch the performance if you wish. There is a ticket along with the letter if you do so desire to go watch. But, moreover, I appreciate what you've done for me. Thank you very much. _

_Sincerely,_

_Namikaze Sakura_

When he was done reading, he looked up to see that Sakura was still waiting for his answer. Giving a weak smile, he nodded sadly as her eyes went wide for a fraction of a second before returning to its blankness. He could tell that she was grateful. "Go on, now or you'll be late," he urged while Sakura and her assistant nodded and left. Once the door closed quietly, he turned to look at the now calm snow as a tear fell from his eye.

-o0o-

_8: 00 pm…Fuyu Dome…Dressing Room_

At the same time, a band of five young musicians were getting ready for their concert in Yuki. The drummer's name is Akimichi Chouji; the young man was a big fellow who ate every minute of everyday. Chouji looks like the typical rocker what with his wild, long red hair and ear piercings. Chouji is actually a nice guy and would help his friends out no matter what. Though, when he was younger before he joined the band, he was always picked on and left out of any sort of activities. That is, until he met his best friend, Nara Shikamaru. Now, Shikamaru, he's a very interesting young man. His favorite word is 'troublesome' because he finds everything troublesome. Even though, he complains a lot, he will help when his friends really need him. The whole band is like that; that's how they were formed. Shikamaru, besides being a lazy person at life, is also surprisingly a very smart person with an IQ of 200. But for some reason, he still finds that even troublesome. Overall, Shikamaru plays the keyboard in the band.

The third member of the band is Hyuuga Neji. He plays the second bass guitar and is the second back up singer. He is one of the two serious people in the group, though, just not so intense like the other. Neji has long dark brown hair that is well kept unlike his drummer friend. His eyes are only found in his family—they're white with a hint of purple and strangely enough have no pupils in them. His friends have asked him many times before why that was and he only shrugged for an answer. Neji believes in fate greatly before he met the band, but that was until he met Namikaze Naruto. How can words explain this hyper young man? Namikaze Naruto, mostly known as Uzumaki Naruto to the fans, is the friendliest person one can meet. He plays the second lead bass guitar and is the first back up singer. He always carries a happy and optimistic outlook on things. He keeps the group together and makes sure that no one is hurting themselves or getting depressed. One can spot him very easily due to his blonde hair that sticks out like a porcupine; his bright blue eyes that's always wide with excitement; and…his really, really loud voice that could wake one up no matter how deep a sleeper one is. That is Namikaze Naruto. The only person that could bring down Naruto's hyper mood is his best friend who is also his rival.

This young man is the lead guitar and lead singer. He is the most serious one in the band. He's very stoic and cold towards others compared to Neji. He doesn't like to be around others unless they were his friends. The young man doesn't like anything and have absolutely no respect for any woman; except for the three girls who are the only ones allowed to be around the group. He drinks and smokes, but will never do the extreme drugs…well…he _did _used to smoke and drink until Naruto beat some sense into his brain. He started drugs when he was thirteen, but stopped at the age of fifteen because if he didn't, Naruto would not stop beating him and nagging him for every single minute. Naruto even called him at five in the morning at one point to make sure he wasn't doing anything stupid. So that was his reason for stopping. Though, once in a very while, he'd take a small drink, but that's it. If he even tried to go beyond the set limit, Naruto would be instantly towering over him with a murderous aura. That's what best friends are for. Although, he doesn't respect woman, when he was fifteen, he'd always used them to take out his frustration when he got out of his two years of rehabilitation. But now that he turned seventeen a few months ago, he stopped playing around and became more concentrated and serious at his work. The young man is famous for his looks, besides his family name. His raven hair which stuck up in the back, but framed his face gave him a seductive look while his onyx eyes and pale skin a mysterious air. He's always seen wearing black or dark blue; once in a while there would a white in the mix somewhere. His name is Uchiha Sasuke. Together with Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, and Chouji, Sasuke and his friends became the band known as Shinobi.

As the five friends got ready for their performance in their dressing room, their manager came in to speak with them. "Alright, Shinobi, your concert will last, at least, three hours, so give it your all. And then after this, you'll be able to go home until school starts again." With that being said, he left to talk with the other workers.

Naruto turned in his chair as the hair stylist fixed his hair. "Finally! We can go home and rest after this!" he exclaimed happily. "Are you excited?"

Chouji, who was in the seat next to him, nodded while eating a bag of chips. "Yeah! Go home and have some real food at the barbecue house!" Naruto only gave Chouji a lifted brow expression who in turn shrugged his shoulders. "Nani?"

"You eat too much, dude," Naruto muttered at his gaze landed on the bag of potato chips.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as did Neji. "Well, it's not like you're one to talk, Naruto. You eat ramen all the time," the lazy genius complained. "How is that supposed to be healthy?"

"It is!" the blonde countered.

"It's your funeral," the Hyuuga commented, making Naruto fume.

Getting angry that everyone's ganging up on him, Naruto was about to throw a tantrum again until the hair stylist got frustrated and reprimanded him. "Namikaze-san, if you can't sit still, we won't be able to get your hair done on time!"

The others snicker as Naruto pouted and crossed his arms over his chest like a child. Upon glaring at the mirror, he noticed that someone was missing. Frowning, the blonde looked at his friends and asked, "Guys? Where's Teme?"

They all looked at each and shrugged, going back to what they were doing earlier. His brows furrowing, Naruto sighed and sat back in his chair, hoping Sasuke wasn't doing anything stupid.

-o0o-

_8:10 pm…Yuki Stadium…Dressing Room…_

As the other employees who are supposed to work stage for Sakura's concert, she was currently in the dressing room, getting her dress on. It was a long slim dress. It was made of many layers of silk; the neck was a halter that tied around her neck; at the waist, all the fabric was brought to the left, giving some wrinkled detail to the dress as the fabric met and were bunched lightly while the silk descended from short to long in elegant waves. The young woman's long pink hair which was a little below her hips were in soft waves and parted to the right. There was very light make up on her face since she didn't need very much. All they did was put a light layer of mascara on and lip gloss and that was it. She didn't need anymore.

When they were done, they gave the young woman a bow before leaving. Sakura was left by herself as she examined herself in the mirror. Her expression was expressionless; there were no emotions in her eyes ever. She can't feel anything is what she thinks. Nothing comes to mind whenever she plays her music. It's always the emptiness she feels. Sakura knows what people feel when they hear her music—sadness, happiness, love, and even regret when they think about their own lives. Sakura lowered her gaze to her dress, observing it. It almost makes her want to laugh at the irony of it. The dress being white stood for innocence, purity, and chastity. Her? Innocent? She just couldn't see it. The idea was too ridiculous. She did things that even parents wouldn't be able to look at her. She shook her head and then averted her gaze to the door, contemplating.

_8: 13 pm…_

"Hurry! The performance is going to start in several minutes," yelled the assistant director of the concert as he rushed into the room, still reprimanding the other workers. "Haruno-san! Come on! Let's get you out there on the stage." When no one came, he snapped his head back in frustration, only to have his eyes widen in shock and panic. "Haruno-san's not here! Suzuki-san!"

The manager ran in and blinked in confusion, turning to the assistant. "Sakura wa?"

"Wakaranai! I came here to get her, but she wasn't here!" he defended himself as Suzuki became angry.

"Fine! Just go and look for her! And do it quickly! We can't have her hurt!" the manager commanded as everyone scattered like ants. Suzuki stood with a worried expression as every person became frantic, praying that Sakura was okay.

-o0o-

_8: 30…Streets of Yuki…_

Stumbling quickly in her dress which was thankfully covered by her overcoat, Sakura raced away, having the sudden need to be alone. For some reason she felt overwhelmed and couldn't understand why she felt that way. It was as if she was being suffocated; she just really needed to get out and away from those people. After several minutes, Sakura finally slowed her pace into a casual walk, noticing that the citizens were murmuring and whispering about her. But, of course, like usual Sakura ignored them all.

It was a good thing when she rushed out of the stadium that she grabbed her umbrella on the way out so that she wouldn't mess up her hair. Don't get her wrong now; Sakura isn't very materialistic. She just didn't want to hear her stylist complain, that's all.

As she walked, not minding that she looked too formal, Sakura noticed something on the other side of the street in an alley. Of course, it's not usually safe for a girl to walk in an alleyway at night, but she could defend herself easily.

Interested to see what it is, Sakura dodged all the passer bys and cars just to see what it was that caught her attention. Easing her way through back on the sidewalk, Sakura strolled down a couple of blocks before actually turning into the alley. While she walked, the snow slowly started to fall heavily once more. Again, she was thankful that she took the umbrella. The young woman stopped for a second to look up and stare at the sky, wondering if she'll miss it once she leaves. Probably. It was the only thing that made her at ease. It was so tranquil for her; she'd always sit by the window at night to gaze at the winter wonderland outside.

Sakura sighed, remembering her childhood memories here. They were nice, but it's a shame that she has to leave this place, though. Shaking her head of the reverie, Sakura continued down the alley until she noticed a speck of red and a wisp of white smoke. Tilting her head to the side when she realized that someone had lit a cigarette, she moved closer. When she was a couple of steps away, Sakura stopped upon discovering a young man around her age or older. She saw the expression on his face and it made hers become even more void than ever. She saw what he felt just by seeing his face. It was like there was no life in him at all. He just sat there on the balls of his feet with his arm outstretched which held the cigarette. Her feet made her move closer until she stood directly in front of the young man. Now that she was closer, Sakura decided to examine his features. She had to admit, the young man was handsome; she never seen anyone like him before. His features were dark—dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes, but the only thing that made him stand out was his white skin. With the black surrounding him, his pale skin made him seem threatening and mysterious. However, his empty face made her feel something. It reminded her of herself; that expression is what she wore everyday. It showed that she wasn't like the others, that she was empty and void of emotions. She couldn't feel anything.

The young man twitched a bit and seemed surprised to see that a girl was standing in front of him and staring at him. But he didn't do anything; he just sat and inhaled his cigarette. His movements made Sakura snap out of her daze as she watches him blow smoke through his lips. As he did so, his eyes landed on hers as if challenging her. Sakura narrowed her eyes a bit until she noticed his attire. It looked like he was supposed to be performing at a rock concert or something. The only thing he had to keep himself warm was a thin jacket. She hated it when people did that, not caring for their bodies.

Sakura shook her head a fraction of an inch and gave a very faint sigh before kneeling before the young man. Taking his cigarette, she grinded the bud into the ground, not even fazed by his glare. When she was done, she looked up at him to see that he calmed down somehow and was staring at her. Taking his still outstretched hand, Sakura placed the handle of her umbrella in his hand. While she did this, she didn't notice the confused frown he gave her. Why in the world was she helping a person like him? Usually, she'd just help and leave, but somehow she felt obligated to get him back on his feet to bring him wherever he needed to be. When Sakura was sure he was holding the umbrella, she took off her overcoat and placed it on his shoulders. However, when she did, Sakura saw that he was going to take it off, so stopped him by putting her hand on his, making him stare at her green eyes.

She gave him a curt nod before standing up to leave. Sakura took up her dress so that it wouldn't be dirty and began walking away. However, she didn't get very far since the young man grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. His hair was now getting damp due to the snow but he didn't care. Right now, this girl was just going to leave after giving him her coat and umbrella. Was she crazy? It's cold and she's wearing a formal dress. He gave her overcoat back, but kept the umbrella. He nodded to her and then left, feeling satisfied.

When he was gone, Sakura didn't have any expression on her face as usual, but this young man really did baffle her since he didn't say very much. She wonders who he is and if she was going to meet him again. Probably not since it didn't seem very possible. Sakura shrugged it off and decided that it was time to go back to the stadium and finish off her performance.

-o0o-

_8: 45 pm…Fuyu Dome…Back Stage…_

Sasuke entered through the back door, wanting to avoid the large crowd of fans as he closed the umbrella. He stared at the black umbrella until he noticed a symbol on the bottom of the handle. It was a swirl mark just like the insignia for their band. Odd, he thought. Oh well, maybe it was just a coincidence. Going to the dressing room along with the umbrella, Sasuke was immediately bombarded as soon as he stepped in by none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

"What the hell, Dobe?" Sasuke grunted in annoyance as he forced Naruto off himself.

Naruto twitched when he noticed the smell of cigarette on him. "Did you smoke again, you bastard?" he demanded, getting in Sasuke's comfort zone. "Man, what did I tell you? It's gonna kill ya if you don't stop, stupid!"

"Never mind that!" Neji yelled as he entered the room after hearing the commotion. "Where've you been? We were looking all over for you!"

Shikamaru also came in with a frustrated look. "Man, you're troublesome. Everyone's been waiting for at least half an hour for you."

"Yeah! We can't start the show without you, teme!" Naruto scolded, not seeing that Sasuke's eye was twitching due to his loudness.

"Shimeta!" Sasuke grunted, getting annoyed. "Go and stall the crowd for me while I get ready."

They all looked uneasy at this. "You sure you're not going to run away again?" Shikamaru asked warily.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes in response. "I won't leave," he said with a final tone.

The guys mumbled to themselves as they left the Uchiha to himself. Though, Naruto lagged behind the others when he saw Sasuke putting away an umbrella. "Oi! Where'd you get that?"

The young man blinked at the sudden question. "Someone gave it to me when it started snowing. Nande?"

Naruto took the umbrella and looked at the bottom of the handle. Seeing the swirl, his eyes snapped to his best friend's. "Where did you say you got this?" he demanded with an urgent look.

Sasuke frowned at the blonde's attitude. Why is he getting so worked up? It's just an umbrella anyways. "I told you; a girl gave it to me," he answered.

"You never said it was a girl," Naruto countered with a suspicious frown etched across his face. Naruto was hardly the serious one when it came to Sasuke and girls, but for some reason, this news really interested him. Who was the girl who gave Sasuke the umbrella? "Do you remember what she looked like?"

Again, a frown was shown on his handsome face. "Why are you so concerned? It was just a girl, that's it," Sasuke grunted, now wanting to end this ridiculous conversation. "Why does it matter to you?"

"Because it does!" the blonde yelled, shocking the raven haired young man. "Just tell me what she looked like, Sasuke."

Okay, now Sasuke _knew _Naruto was being serious when he used his actually name. It was the same thing for him; if something was bothering him, he'd call Naruto by Naruto. Odd thing friendship is. "All I remembered was that she had odd pink hair and green eyes, alright. Now tell me why this is bothering you so much," Sasuke said. The usually hyper teen seemed to be speechless when Sasuke gave him the descriptions. He muttered to himself words that Sasuke couldn't catch, making him confused. "Naruto? Doushita?"

The boy shook his head and said that it was nothing before running out of the room. Sasuke only lifted his brow and just shook his head, returning to his earlier task. _'Whatever. I'll never know what's going on in his mind,' _he thought absentmindedly and sighed, knowing that tonight's going to be a long one.

-o0o-

_Yuki Stadium…_

"Haruno-san! Where have you been?" Suzuki-san demanded as she gave the girl a motherly embrace. "Don't do that again! Do you know how worried I was?!"

Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor, feeling bad for making Suzuki worried. She was a like mother and big sister to Sakura. She was there for her since the very beginning and she learned to grow on Sakura and made her comfortable around her.

The pink-haired girl looked up with a small apologetic look, saying that she was sorry. Suzuki was still upset, but she can forgive the girl this time. "Fine, just don't do it again. Understand?"

Sakura nodded as she returned Suzuki's hug from before. The manager smiled and hugged back. When they let go, Sakura began to make her way to the stage until Suzuki called her back.

"Haruno-san? Where's your umbrella? I thought you'd take it with you, but it's not here," the manager said with a baffled expression.

The girl only shrugged and left to her piano, which will be played for several of her pieces and her violin as well. Taking a deep breath as she stood behind the currents, the image of the young man earlier flashed through her mind as she held her head high and walked out while the audience gave the applause.

-o0o-

_9: 45 pm…Fuyu Dome…_

As the two guitarists strung the last note loudly, Sasuke finished off the song with a shout the crowd. The fans screamed and cried, watching as their idol performed before them. Neji simply gave his guitar a last quick stroke, finally ending the concert for the night.

"Here's our last song for the New Year!" Naruto cried excitedly, getting the audience of teens to scream louder. "The name's called _The Kill! _Enjoy!"

The song started as a low strum of the guitars until Naruto began the tune while Chouji brought the song together with his drums. The song was soothing and calm as soon as Sasuke sang the lyrics to the crowd.

_What if I wanted to break?_

_Laugh it all of in your face?_

_What would you do?_

_**(Oh, oh)**_

Sasuke closed his eyes as Naruto sang his part, dropping his head a bit as he thought of the girl he met. It was odd. Whenever he'd performed, he'd always felt uneasy for some odd reason; but, right now, at this moment, Sasuke was actually feeling at peace—not only because he was thinking of the girl, but also because of the song. It soothes him.

Keeping his eyes closed, Sasuke picked up where Naruto left off with the same soft tune as Neji joined in with his bass.

_What if I fell to the floor?_

His voice started to rise slowly.

_Couldn't take all this anymore?_

Sasuke opened his eyes and gave the crowd a determined gaze.

_What you would do, do, do?_

-

Sakura sat on the stool as she ran her hand gently over the keys with a small twitch of her lips. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for her last song as the host announced loudly to the sophisticated audience.

"This is her last song for the New Year, so please enjoy it! Thank you all for coming!" he said into the microphone as the people clapped their hands. "This song is called _To Zanarkand_!"

Sakura closed her green eyes while lifting her hands slightly above the keys. Slowly, she brought her fingers to the piano as music began to flow beautifully from her hands. She paused for a brief second before going on to the next memorized line. The song moved to a more melancholy tune evenly while the crowd sat in audience of the sixteen year old.

As she played, Sakura can see the image of the young man she saw in the alley. Seeing his face made this song she played didn't seem so sad anymore. It was like a renewed hope bursting forth from her. She wished that the audience can understand what she felt at the moment as she played this piece. When she first wrote it, it was just on a whim. She had to get this tune down before she forgot it. Thinking back, Sakura didn't know why she was in such haste to get this song down. It just seemed necessary and now she was glad she did.

-

_Come_

_Break me down!_

_Bury me! Bury me!_

_I am finished with you!_

It was quiet for a second as Sasuke grabbed the microphone closer to himself while Neji played a more distinct rhythm on his guitar and Chouji beating his drums like there was no tomorrow. Shikamaru was in his corner, bobbing his head to the music, pressing his keys at the right moment.

_What if I wanted to fight?_

Sasuke sang; the girl's image in his head again as his eyes narrowed distantly.

_Beg for the rest of my life!_

_What would you do?_

The young man's voice softened at the line, mentally wondering to himself of that question at the same time.

_You say you wanted more_

_What are you waiting for?_

_I'm not running from __(from you)_

Neji echoed as Sasuke sang the chorus once more, but with more energy this time.

_Come!_

_Break me down!_

_Bury me! Bury me!_

_I am finished with you!_

_Look at my eyes!_

_You're killing me, killing me_

_All I wanted was you!_

-

She hit the main keys to hit her chorus as the song flowed smoothly, bringing her audience in with its sad grace. The chorus repeated twice before going on to a different note. Her brows furrowed as memories started to rush back to her.

-

His eyes held such pain and sadness as his childhood memories flashed through his head. His family name, his father, his brother…all those memories…

_I tried to be someone else_

_But nothing seemed to change _

_I know now, this is who I really am inside!_

Bringing his head to side to rid of the memories, he grinded his teeth, forcing himself to finish the song.

_Finally found myself!_

_Fighting for a chance_

_I know now, this is who I really am!_

He screamed and dropped his head as Neji and Naruto sang their part, while altogether all four played their instruments intensely, bringing everything together for the finale.

-

Her song became louder and louder as the notes changed to something more dramatic as if showing her true feelings when she first wrote the song. Even now, all of her emotions were being displayed as the song moved forward, into a quieter melody. It went slowly at first, getting the audience to relax a bit, but soon the piece sped up quickly just as her emotions have.

-

_**Ah, ah!**_

The drums rolled signaling the solution of the climax of the lyrics.

_**Oh, oh!**_

Sasuke banged his head to the drums.

_**Ah, ah!**_

The guitars, the drums, and the keyboard surged together, bringing the last of the chorus in as Sasuke took a deep breath, looking distant once more.

_Come!_

_Break me down!_

_Bury me, bury me!_

_I am finished with you! You! You!_

He stressed the last note, moving farther to the edge of the stage.

-

Sakura lifted her hands higher, bringing in the intensity that she felt as she keyed the notes professionally yet elegantly. Opening her eyes for the first time, Sakura looked beyond the spotlight, beyond the burgundy curtains, to see the man she met. Her music translated her wishes, her feelings.

-

_Look at my eyes!_

_You're killing me, killing me!_

_All I wanted was you!_

He screamed into the microphone, sweat trickling down his face.

_Come, break me down_

_**(Bury me, bury me)**_

_Break me down_

_**(Bury me, bury me)**_

_Break me down!_

_**(Bury me, bury me)**_

Naruto echoed behind him, watching his friend with careful eyes, interpreting his movements. _'What's on your mind, Sasuke?'_

Even everyone else thought the same thing. They'd never seen the young man so determined as he performed. Though, he would give his best, they never saw his all.

_(You say you wanted more)_

Neji sang, knowing Naruto will come after him.

_**(Bury me, bury me)**_

_What if I wanted to break…?_

_(What are you waiting for?)_

_**(Bury me, bury me)**_

_(I'm not running from you)_

_What if I _

_What if I _

_What if I _

_What if I _

_**(Bury me, bury me)**_

Sasuke finished with his repeat and Naruto with his light whisper, completely ending the song with Neji's guitar and Chouji's tapping of the cymbal. The band threw their heads down in unison as the fans went wild and started to jump up and down in excitement.

-o0o-

_10: 00 pm…_

Sakura finished off her solo with a fast dramatic climax and soon slowed it down to a quiet pitch of the high key. The stadium was silent for a few seconds until someone began clapping, causing everyone else to. The young woman stood up, ignoring the roses being thrown on the stage for her. Standing beside the bench, Sakura gave a low bow as they whooped and congratulated her for her wonderful performance.

Keeping her blank face on, Sakura observed that some women were actually crying as the men hugged their wives, comforting them. The host came back out on the stage, walking beside her. Throwing his hands into the air, he said ecstatically, "Ladies and gentlemen, Lady Haruno Sakura!"

The audience clapped louder than before as she started her descent to the back room. Sitting on a stool, Sakura sat staring at her reflection once more and noticed that there was a light blush on her face. Finding that strange, she rubbed it off, not liking it. However, when it didn't, she frowned and looked closer. It was, in fact, her own natural blush she didn't realize was there. She was always pale and never had any kind of blush before.

Shaking her head, Sakura turned to see Suzuki coming from the stage to embrace her. "Finally! Aren't you excited to go home, Sakura-chan?" she asked with a happy smile.

Sakura only nodded, relieved as well.

"All we have to do left is greet the audience and that's it," Suzuki said, checking the schedule. "Ready?"

Again, the girl only nodded.

-o0o-

_10: 45 pm…Inside Shinobi private jet…_

"Ahh! This feels so nice!" Naruto sighed, stretching himself across the row of seats. Opening his blue eyes, he stared at his stoic friend who was fiddling with the umbrella ever since they finished their concert. "Would you stop messing with that thing?" he asked, peeved.

Sasuke seemed to be in a different world since he blinked and gave Naruto a brief expression of confusion. "No," he replied as the surroundings and happenings clicked in.

Yuki wasn't that far from their home country, the Fire Country. It was only an hour or so since Yuki was near the east coast. Sasuke gazed out of his window with a distant stare, not caring if Naruto was watching his odd behavior. _'I wonder if I'll see that girl again…'_

-o0o-

_12: 30…Konoha…Airport…_

"Take your time, Haruno-san!" the guide yelled as he helped the young woman down the steps; but that was apparently more difficult than it seems due to the fact that there was a severe storm in Konoha.

When she was safely on the ground, the group ran to the entrance to get out of the snow. Once inside, everyone groaned in complaint seeing as how they're going to be stuck at the airport all night. However, Suzuki wasn't going to allow Sakura to stay here, so she went with Sakura to pick up her things.

"Demo, it's too dangerous to be out there, Suzuki-san! You'll get killed if you aren't careful!" one of the staff members said, trying to stop the two women.

But, the manager just shook it off and laughed. "Don't worry so much! It's Konoha! It'll get warm enough to melt the snow!"

The one who tried to stop them was still unconvinced. "But what about the slick ice and black ones? Onegai, Suzuki-san! It's for your safety," he pleaded.

Again, the woman ignored him while rest still followed unsure themselves. Once the luggage was in the taxi, Suzuki joined Sakura who sat patiently for her to finish. The woman rubbed her hands together, putting them by her lips. "It's so cold! How odd, isn't it, Sakura-chan?" she said, looking at the nonchalant girl.

Sakura turned to look at Suzuki and took off her scarf to keep the older woman warm.

"Ah! You don't have to, Sakura-chan! Please, keep yourself warm. I'm fine," she assured with a smile, though Sakura frowned a bit.

The front door slammed loudly as the driver started the ignition. "Where to Miss?" he asked Suzuki as she handed him the address. "Alright! Let's get you home, shall we."

Slowly and carefully, the driver looked over his shoulders to see if there were any oncoming cars before pulling out of the pick-up area. The heat was on full blast as the manager continued to rub her hands together. This was most annoying to her. She's been living in Yuki for many years now, so a little blizzard in Konoha shouldn't be anything; but she hates the cold.

"Why is it so cold in Konoha this year?" she asked the driver who looked at her in his mirror.

He shrugged, bringing his eyes back to the road. "Don't know; the meteorologists thought it was odd as well, saying that we should be having some frost instead," he answered casually until they all felt the car starting to slow down.

This caught Sakura's attention since she's been in the car sitting quietly. She turned to look out of the windshield to see what was wrong. The driver swore as he tried to restart the car. "Dammit! The car's stalled. I'll go see if I can fix what's wrong. Hold on for a minute." The man stepped outside and popped up his hood to fix what was wrong. After a few minutes out in the cold, he came back in and tried to restart the car again. It made the painful screeching noise for a few seconds until the engine came to life again. However, he was too late.

Loud breaking screeches from the intersection came on both sides as eyes widen in shock when they realized that they were going to get hit. Sakura sat with surprise, seeing bright yellow headlights heading her way. She didn't have time to react as the SUV smashed into her door, breaking the window as glass flew harshly in her eyes. She cried out in pain as she clutched her now bleeding eyes. During the pain, she felt herself being flung down on the seat with a pressure on top of her. It was all too confusing—the screaming, the crunching, the screeching. It made her head hurt as the car flipped a couple of times on the other side of the street. She was sure she heard the cars behind them collide as well.

The car stopped moving and all was silent except for the sounds of crying sirens blaring loudly. There were voices everywhere but she only heard one distinct one, one that she was familiar with all her life.

"T-thank goodness…you're…a-alright….Sa-Sa…Sa…kura…-chan," a whisper came in her ear as she tried to detect where it came from. Then the pressure on her felt heavier as she tried to open her eyes. But that only made her cry in pain as her eyes bled more. So using her hands, Sakura moved up to feel hair on her shoulders. Moving higher, she realized that it was Suzuki.

Panic started to rise in her chest as she feared the worst. She struggled to sit up, but her head started to pounded, making it more difficult to stay awake. Tears began to come as she registered what had just occurred. Darkness filled her vision as she lost consciousness with tears flowing down her face. Suzuki was dead.

-o0o-

_12: 57 pm…Uchiha Estate…_

Sasuke placed all of his baggage in the living room as his butler greeted him with a bow. The young man gave a curt nod back as he started towards his bedroom. A hot long shower would be nice to soothe his sore muscles after the long flight. Opening the door to his bathroom which was conveniently located in his room, Sasuke turned on the shower head. Taking off his clothes, he stepped into the tub, letting the hot water run through his hair and down his body. Immediately, Sasuke felt all those tight knots loosened. Ah, what a wonderful feeling to be home.

Fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the steamy bathroom with his fresh pair of clothes on with a towel on his head. When he was done, he just tossed the towel on the back of his chair and headed downstairs. Quickly grabbing an apple from the kitchen, Sasuke dropped on his couch and sat like any normal guy and turned on his television.

"Would you like a drink, young master?" the butler asked politely.

"No, thank you," Sasuke answered back, just as polite. Flipping through the channels bored, one actually caught his eyes as he paused to see the same girl he met on TV. _'It's her.'_

It was her performance that he was watching. He paused that show at one scene when they had a close up on her face. Sasuke frowned. There was no expression on her face as she played the violin. Sure she had her eyes closed, but still. He'd thought he see something there. _'She's a musician, too. Odd…' _Pressing play again, the show flashed to the part Sakura played her ending piece. His dark brows lifted, impressed that she also played the piano. He sat quietly as he heard her play. Here, he noticed her countenance changed a bit as the song progresses. Her motions were fluid, but he saw it. He saw the emotion she put into it, reminding him of his last song. In many ways, he noticed, that he and she were very much alike. They were musicians, had no emotions, were quiet and when it really counts, played at their very best in the end.

Sasuke smirked. _'Hmm…I probably won't see her anymore anyways…'_

He flipped to another channel when the show ended.

"At 12: 43 this morning, a collision occurred on Main Street with twenty cars. One car, however, was severely struck due to the SUV and eighteen-wheeler that crashed into it at the same time," the woman reported as the camera averted to the black car that was flipped upside down with a street light knocked over it.

Sasuke frowned upon seeing this. _'An SUV _and _eighteen-wheeler? There aren't probably any survivors left,' _Sasuke thought, as the camera zoomed in on the damage. He winced and shook his head, turning off the TV as he did so. While heading towards his room to sleep and going on his bed, Sasuke laid there thinking about the accident that happened. For some reason, there was a nagging feeling he felt in his chest and it wouldn't go away. He had a feeling that that accident had something to do with someone he knew. But that couldn't be right. Everyone else he knew was at home now, so who could it be?

_'Ugh…All this thinking won't get me any sleep,_' Sasuke thought, annoyed, turning on his side to sleep. As he drifted into a deep slumber, all he saw was the young woman's face.

* * *

See? Didn't I tell you it was long? Yeah, you can probably see how I felt when I wrote this first chapter. I feel miserable everyday so I write to make myself feel better, but that's still not enough. -laughs bitterly- I'm not going emo or anything, but there were times where I considered ending my life. Yeah, I know, stupid. But it's hard not to think about if you have a dictating mother like mine. -sighs- Anyways, I hoped you liked it. For this story, I'm sure there will be more progress compared to my other fics.

**Thanks for taking your time to read this. To listen to the songs played, please go to my profile. They will be under the story's information along with Sakura's dress as well. **

Sincerely,

Winter's Holly

Please review, thanks.


	2. Chapter II: Blind

_Hmm...well, I'm back and I feel more odd than usual. Damn it! Why do I have to have friends? Why can't I just be the loner I used to be?! God! I hate this feeling...I hate having friends because it feels so...painful. Yeah, that's what I feel. -sighs- How do you guys do it? I just don't know. I'd rather be alone than have friends and be ended up hurt again. But anyways, you must be wondering why I am saying this, huh? Well, I went to prom yesterday (yeah, I know. I live in Idaho, so it's odd), and well, I didn't like that feeling of being so close to people so I spent the night in the hallways by myself, wondeirng why in the hell I came in the first place! But, of course, let's not read my nonsense and read the fic, shall we?_

_Disclaimer: I don't own it!_

_

* * *

_

Chapter II: Blind 

_By: Winter's Holly_

"_The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.__" – Helen Keller_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_3__rd__ of January…9: 30 am…Konoha Hospital_

The halls of the hospital were quiet and echoing as the morning light shined through the gossamer curtains. The only sounds in the white washed room were the sounds of heart monitors and IV machines as a young woman lay unconsciously in the bed, breathing with a slow and steady breath. The door clicked opened as a man of the age of his early thirties appeared. His hair was blonde, spiking in all directions while his eyes were striking blue. There was worry in his kind eyes as he walked slowly towards the bed. Following him was a woman with red long hair and light blue eyes. She too came in worried as she joined her husband. Finally the last to come in was Naruto himself, except he wasn't worried like his parents were. He was more shock than anything.

"Is it really her, Tousan?" he asked quietly, still standing by the door.

His father, Namikaze Minato, nodded at him sadly as Naruto finally made his way over on the other side of the bed.

"Sakura's wounds were very severe when she came in," the doctor said as he, too, entered the room with the Namikaze. "It's a good thing we got her in time or she would've died. However…"

Kushina, Naruto's mother, turned to the doctor with wide eyes. "'However'?" she repeated.

The doctor sighed and pushed the bridge of his glasses up. "Your daughter will be blind due to the damage the shards of glass did to them."

Naruto gasped and turned to the girl who was still sleeping peacefully, not knowing that her family was here. "You're saying that my sister won't see? Ever?"

The doctor nodded.

Suddenly, Naruto felt bitter as he crouched over Sakura's form, grabbing her small, cold hand. Tears fell silently onto the white sheet as he gritted his teeth. _'Sakura…'_

-o0o-

_10: 23 am…Uchiha Estate…._

_Ring!_

_Ring!_

_Ring!_

A groan emerged from under the black covers of the blankets as Sasuke jammed his head deeper into the pillow, unsuccessfully trying to get the sound out.

_Ring!_

_Ring!_

_'Damn it…someone get the damn door, already!' _he thought irritated. However, the ringing continued and Sasuke let out a loud growl as he threw the blankets off and grabbed his shirt in haste. As he rashly ran down the stairs with a murderous intent, Sasuke gave a cursory glance out of the large window, his eyes twitching when he saw who it was. _'Damn that dobe!'_

Yanking open the door harshly, he gave his best friend his full blown glare. "What the hell do you want, dobe?" he demanded through gritted teeth as his hand tightened on the knob.

Instead of stating his business, Naruto just walked right in dejectedly, not noticing Sasuke's narrowed eyes. Trudging into the living room, the blonde plopped himself on the couch with his face in his hands. The Uchiha lifted a dark brow at the teen's behavior and walked into the living room also. He stood beside Naruto, wondering what was up.

"Oi, daijoubu?" Sasuke asked stoically, his eyes blank as ever. He got no answer, just silence. And this annoyed him. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Sasuke put his hand on his hip and ran the other through his unkempt hair. "Dobe, if you don't tell me, I'm going to kick you out."

Finally a response! Naruto lifted his face to stare lifelessly at his friend. "My sister's in the hospital," he muttered, but Sasuke didn't catch it.

"Nani?"

Sighing, he straightened up and ran his hands down his face. "I said my sister's in the hospital," he reiterated quietly as silence reigned throughout the mansion.

Sasuke dark eyes widen at the new information. "You have a sister? Why didn't I know this before?" he didn't like it when something was out of his knowledge, especially if it involved his best friend. Sure, he wouldn't admit it out loud, but Sasuke does worries for his friends, just vaguely.

"Because she left us a long time ago," Naruto answered as he stared out the window.

-

Meanwhile, Sakura who had awaken when her family was there, sat facing the window with blind folded eyes. Her pale arms reached out to the warmth she felt, wondering if she would be able to see again. A small blue bird flew by fast while singing at the same time. Sakura brought her hand back down wordlessly.

-

"She left you," Sasuke stated as he leaned against the arm of this couch. "Nande?"

Still gazing out the window, Naruto saw a blue bird fly by and turned his head away. "Let me—"

His sentence was cut short when the doorbell rang again. Both young men looked at the door as Sasuke went silently to greet his unexpected visitors. There, standing on his doorsteps, were the rest of Shinobi and three other girls who always hung out with the band. The first girl was Yamanaka Ino. Her hair and eyes are very similar to that of Naruto's. Of course her hair was platinum blonde and her eyes, a baby blue shade. Her skin was fairer and her attitude matched her appearance: snotty, but nice as well. There were often times when she was mistaken to be Naruto's twin. And that in turn made the two furiously embarrassed at the misconception. Ino has been good friends with the group now since she also met Shikamaru and Chouji when they were younger. All three of them knew each other due to the fact that their fathers were and still are best friends since kids.

The second girl was Hyuuga Hinata, also known as the cousin of Hyuuga Neji. She, too, inherited the odd eyes of their family, but she wasn't as confident as Neji. Her father is head of the Hyuuga clan and is very strict on her because she is the first born. However, she really doesn't want to since she feels like Neji would be a much better head instead of her. Also she has a crush on the hyper blonde, Naruto. Of course, the young blonde knew this already and was going to ask her until he heard of the accident.

And lastly, is Shitoken Tenten. She was the spunkiest girl in the group. Tenten has a very odd obsession with weapons and was friends with Neji since she was twelve. But now, she's his girlfriend and he gets kind of possessive, despite the fact the she can protect herself from the crazy perverts. This young woman is also a tomboy, which was probably why she can get along with Neji so well.

Looking back to his living room, Sasuke asked a silent question to Naruto with his eyes. Understanding, Naruto nodded as Sasuke stepped aside to let the others in. As they all gathered around, Naruto looked up slowly and greeted the group first.

"Hey, guys," he greeted solemnly that it made everyone except Sasuke wonder what was wrong.

Hinata stepped forward with timidity as she asked in a quiet tiny voice, "D-daijoubu, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head while Sasuke just stood in silence, leaning against the frame of the entrance to the room. Shikamaru and Chouji sat on the couch beside the blonde as Chouji took the remote and switch the TV on. Immediately, the news media began reporting the collision that occurred two days ago. All eyes were turned to the screen as the reporter continued her report to the world.

"Holy shit," Shikamaru muttered as a scene of Main Street appeared. The city was still trying to clean up the mess, but there were way too many vehicles out there. "You think anybody survived that one?"

Naruto was going to speak, but Tenten cut in quickly with a doubtful look on her face. "Really doubt it," she stated as she watched the news. "I mean did you look at the mess? Yeah, no one can be alive after that."

It was then Naruto decided to interrupt the conversation. "My sister was in that accident," he muttered, shocking everyone except Sasuke who already knew earlier.

"Nani!" everyone cried in surprise as each glanced at each other, checking to see if they knew until their eyes landed on Sasuke.

"I didn't know until just now," he answered their unasked question.

Ino snapped at Naruto with wild and disbelieved eyes. "You have a sister?" she screamed with an incredulous expression.

"Calm down, Ino," Shikamaru warned as the girl stared at him before sighing in defeat.

Ino put a hand on her waist and frowned at her blonde friend. "Since when?"

The Uzumaki sighed once more before telling his tale. "I'll start at the beginning…"

_Eleven Years Prior…May…Sarutobi Park…Late Afternoon…_

_"Oneechan! Oneechan! Doko na no?" a young six year old Naruto ran all over the large park colored in hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens. His hands were around his lips as he continued his search for his elder sister. His pace slowed down a bit as his tiny frame bent over to catch his breath. "Where are you, big sister?"_

_His eyes grew larger in worry as the sun began to set further over the horizon. "I gotta hurry or Touchan and Kaachan will be angry," he muttered to himself, forcing his little legs move. "Oneechan! Big Sister! Where are you?"_

_Naruto stopped running and fell to the ground feeling hopeless as tears starting to slide down his baby cheeks. Unable to stop them, he brought his hands to his face and began rubbing his eyes. "N-Neechan! Neechan!" he cried his heart out, wishing for his sister to be here with him. As he continued to cry, the little boy didn't notice the sounds of crunching leaves getting louder as the sky began dark and stars started to shine. Immediately, he stopped when a hand was felt atop his blonde head and Naruto brought his teary gaze up to see the green eyes of his sister who had barely turned seven two months ago._

_There was blood on her face and bruises here and there, he noticed quickly. But a smile was evident on her face as she spoke, "Big boys don't cry, Otoutou-kun." However, upon closing observation, he noticed the pain in his sister's eyes when she said this. "Gomene, Naruto. I should have come quicker that way you wouldn't be out here all alone. I'm sorry."_

_Naruto blinked the tears away as he bury his face in his sister's torso. "Can we go home now?"_

_The little girl smiled lovingly at her little brother as she pulled him up. "Here, I'll give you a piggy back ride since I've noticed that you twisted your ankle," she said, bending over in front of the smaller boy as he hopped on._

_As the siblings walked on the silent journey back, Naruto decided to break the silence with a question. "Neechan, why do you have bruises on your face? Did you get hurt?" It was an innocent question, but the young girl remained quiet for a long amount of time until he grew worried. "Oneechan?"_

_Snapping out of her reverie, she turned to give Naruto a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, Otoutou. This is nothing. I can take what the world throws at me and you should, too! You wouldn't want others to pick on you, do you?" she teased with gentle smile. Naruto pouted and just tightened his hold around her neck a bit until she laughed and choked, giving up in defeat. "Gomen, gomen!" she chuckled as the light summer breeze ran through her hair. She sighed and looked at the starry sky. "Naruto, no matter what happens, no matter what others say about you, you have to be strong, okay? Don't let any words bring you down."_

_"Hai, Oneechan!" Naruto said, wondering vaguely what was going through her mind at the moment as he watched her eyes shine with stars._

As the others listened intently, they watched all the emotions that went through the boy's face—love, admiration, and most of all sadness.

"We used to be so close, my sister and I. But that all changed when she turned ten later in the years," Naruto continued as he shut his eyes as if to get rid of the memories.

_Bang!_

_"What the hell's wrong with you, kid?!" yelled a man at the age of eighteen as he stared at the blank ten year old. Her eyes were cold and dull as the blood rolled in streaks down her face, making her look a bit eerie._

_She was going to pull the trigger again, this time making sure she wouldn't miss until a cry alerted her. "Oneechan!"_

_Blinking rapidly, the said girl turned around to see her little brother standing at the end of the alley with fear in his eyes. "N-Naruto?! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at home!"_

_Suddenly the sounds of sirens alerted everyone as they scattered away into the alley. Looking at her brother then at the man, the girl clicked her tongue in irritation before glaring at the man. "Be glad that your life has been spared," she spat and turned to Naruto who stood frozen by the wall. Dashing to her brother, she took his hand and dragged him along with her into the maze. _

_"Neechan! Where are we going?!" Naruto cried, feeling terrified as his sister continued to run, pulling at his arm._

_"Just shut up and keep running!" she growled in aggravation. Until they were far enough in, she made them hide behind a dumpster, checking before they moved slowly now. As they passed through old apartment areas, she took out a piece of white cloth and wiped her face until all the blood was completely gone. Once out of the slums, the siblings continued their way into the richer parts. As they strolled silently, Naruto kept glancing at his sister, which she noticed from the corner of her eye. _

_Sighing, she stopped and faced Naruto. "Mite, do not tell father and mother of this, do you understand?" she questioned with authority in her eyes. He cringed, not remembering the harshness in them. _

_"Demo, Neechan, what happened? I mean, I thought—"_

_"It's nothing for you to be concerned about, alright! It's—" she snapped, but then saw the pain in his eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just don't tell Otou-sama and Okaa-sama, alright? I don't want them to get involved in my problems. I can handle them on my own," she said, walking away, leaving Naruto confused and hurt._

"She was in gangs now and had gotten in so much trouble," Naruto continued as tears began trickling down his cheeks. "The next year I was walking home and I saw her again with those _people_," he said acidly as he glared at the dirt on the floor. "She had always been bullied when we were younger, but I never knew until we were eight. Anyways, my sister was eleven that year and watched in secrecy as she stood in front of a very old man. It looked like they were forcing her to do something. And I realized that he wanted her for her body…"

_"Come now, girl," the leader said with an overused suaveness as she glared in disgust. He grew angry at her lack of words. "Look! I saved you from those people and this is how you repay me! Get on your knees!"_

_Instantly, the others pushed the young girl down on her knees as she grunted. "Kuso! Let me go, you fucking bastard!"_

_He chuckled as a sadistic glint appeared in his eyes while hers widen in realization. "You may be eleven, but you do have a nice body," he chuckled, lust driving him. He moved closer until he kneeled down and was at her level. "Well now, let's see how developed you are, shall we?"_

_And as he lifted her chin, she head butted him, making his nose break upon impact. The others let go in surprise, rushing to their injured leader. Naruto's sister smirked and ran into the alleys as the rookies went after her. Naruto followed, making sure if she would be alright. It was hard keeping up since she had become faster as she grew. Finally she stopped in a large intersection of alleys and saw one of the extending ladders on her right. Pulling it down, she raced upwards as the lackeys followed suit. Not being quick enough, Naruto ran back from whence he came and saw that the leader was still there, possibly waiting for her._

"When I got there, I hid, waiting for my sister to come. From a distance, I heard gunshots and screams," Naruto said as he remembered the leader's face turned pale as the girl jumped in front of him with a bit of spray of blood on her face. "When they fought, I thought my sister was going to lose since she was so small. But I guess that was an advantage for her. She jumped, I remember, throwing her legs around his neck, pulling herself up in the process. She broke his neck when she jumped off and stood looking at his dead body. I, of course, was stunned that my sister would even do this." Naruto sat, shaking his head, feeling ashamed that he was telling this story.

Everyone looked at Naruto in pity. Sasuke was silent throughout the whole story, his eyes blank as he stared at his best friend. _'His sister killed one of the strongest gang leader five years ago…'_

Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked at the brighter sky. "But you know, despite that trouble she got in, she was still good to people, strangely."

"How so?" Hinata asked with a baffled expression.

"Yeah!" Ino chimed in. "If she was in a gang, why would she help people?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "There are still some people who could be good and bad at the same time, you know."

"Urasai!"

Tenten shook her head at the pair and looked at Naruto. "Please continue, Naruto," she said politely.

_"Now, I owe you nothing," his sister said monotone and lifted her gaze to the sky. "I've repaid my debts and avenged the people you hurt…and I'm free now…"_

_She lowered her head to stare at her hands and smirked to herself. "I failed as a daughter and sister to my family," she muttered and looked up to see the other backups shocked to see her standing by the dead body of their leader._

_One of them walked up to her and kneeled before her, making her confused. "You killed our leader, now you have to take his place," he declared as the others followed his example._

_She frowned. "Nani? Doyo koto?"_

_The young man lifted his gaze. "When someone kills the leader, he or she must take the place as the new leader," he explained._

_Naruto watched as his sister shook her head. "Iie. You've got the wrong person," she grunted. "All I wanted was to be free of my debt and him. I'm not the person you're looking for."_

_The young man glared at her. "But you killed him so you must take his place no matter what! Keep to your word! Remember what you said! You said you killed him and make the world better!"_

_"But that doesn't mean I have to be leader, dumbass!" she countered back angrily and turned to leave. But she didn't get very far when he yanked her arm back. "What the hell? I'm only eleven! What am I supposed to do?!"_

_"Tell us what to do!" he argued back._

_Feeling aggravated, she brought a hand to her face, trying to calm herself. "Fine, since you said I'm leader now and that you'll do _everything _I say, then I leave my title to you."_

_The young man blanched at the idea. "N-nani?!"_

_"You heard me," she growled. "I'm handing the title to you which means I trust you to make the world better, starting now." His sister continued her way back._

_"How am I supposed to do that?!" he screamed._

_She stopped and didn't say anything for a while as the breeze blew the leaves off their branches. Finally, she turned to give him a smirk. "Just start by doing the simplest kind gesture one at a time. By doing that, you're showing what we humans can be if we tried."_

"Wow…your sister must be a great person, huh?" Chouji said in awe.

Ino and Tenten nodded in agreement. "Sure is!" Ino said loudly.

"But why did she leave?" Hinata asked, looking at her cousin.

Blinking at the question, Naruto stood by and went by the window. "Yeah; about that—she said she couldn't stay because she felt as if she didn't belong with us…that she had no right."

_"Doyo koto!" Naruto screamed, shaking his elder sister by the shoulders. "You're my sister! Of course, you belong with us!"_

_Kushina rushed up to her daughter, trying to reason with her. "Please, honey, don't do this! You're only eleven. What can you do out there, huh?"_

_She didn't answer, but looked at the setting sun. "I can change the world," she answered sullenly. "I know I caused you a lot of pain, so I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave so that I may come back a better person."_

_"Demo, why now?" Minato asked this time, not understanding his daughter's motives._

_"Shinpai shinaide, Otou-sama, I'll keep playing for you," she promised, removing Naruto's hands from her shoulders and went out of the house to the taxi, waiting for her. As she entered the car, she rolled down the window and gave her family a last smile before the car drove off._

The house was silent once more. The only sounds were the sniffing sounds that Naruto made when he told the ending to his story. "I was only ten when she left. Afterwards, we never heard from her again until today."

Hinata kneeled in front of Naruto and took his hands in hers. "It's alright, Naruto-kun," she soothed, "We're here."

And as Naruto lifted his head to give the young woman a teary smile, Sasuke couldn't help, but wonder if the girl he met was the same girl Naruto was talking about.

-o0o-

The door opened as the doctor came in quietly as the young girl sat, facing the white wall in silence. Closing the door gently, the doctor strolled up to her and took the clipboard from the foot of the bed. "Haruno-san, would you like to start school now or wait until your eyes heal?" the doctor asked, looking while Sakura remained quiet. He frowned when she didn't answer. "Can't you talk?"

Sakura moved her head a bit and proceeded to stay quiet.

"Haruno-san?" the doctor called again, worried. He moved quickly to her side. "I want you to say 'ah' for me. Can you do that?"

Well, she did just that except no sound came out. Realizing this, Sakura closed her mouth and lowered her head. Her small hands turned into fists on the blanket as she gritted her teeth.

The doctor tilted his head with a small frown. "Sou ka," he muttered to himself. "It's psychological, isn't it? It's not that you can't or won't, but simply you're afraid to, right?"

The girl sighed in response.

He smiled at her sympathetically and patted her head. "So do you want to go to school? It starts tomorrow," he said, starting to feel as if this girl was a lot more than she seems.

Sakura turned into the direction she thought the doctor was in and nodded with a very small hint of a smile.

"Alright," he said, patting her head as he stood up. "But I'll have to keep the cloth over your eyes so that the sun won't hurt it, okay? I'll call for your parents." However, as soon as he said that, Sakura pulled on the sleeves on his coat blindly. Blinking at this, he turned to face her again. Her grip tightened as if asking a question. Finally understanding, he sighed. "Um…I'm guessing you don't want your parents, right?" she nodded. "But…you want to know…if the woman you were with is here?"

Again, Sakura nodded.

This was going to be hard. How was he supposed to tell her that the woman was dead instantly upon impact? She wasn't at the hospital anymore and her body was sent to the morgue. He sighed. She's not going to like this.

"Haruno-san, Suzuki-san died instantly when the vehicles collided," he stated, feeling really guilty when he felt her grip now on his arm. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "That was how you lived; you were found underneath her body on the day of the accident. I'm sorry."

Sakura let go of her grasp and dropped her head. So that was how she was alive today—Suzuki saved her from getting killed. Her fists clenched tightly, causing her knuckles to become white and her palms red with trickles of blood. Damn it! She was the reason why Suzuki died. If it weren't for her, Suzuki would have been alive right now. God! How she wanted to kill herself at the moment! Why did she always have to screw things up?!

The doctor seeing this, immediately tried to sooth the girl's pain, but was unsuccessful. Sakura only pushed him away. Frowning, he decidedly to leave the girl alone and to call her parents to pick her up. Now that she was alone, she'll have to live with her family again.

-o0o-

_4__th__ of January…Hokage Private School…8: 45 pm…_

Inside the class of 3A sat the band Shinobi along with Ino, Tenten, and Hinata in the top right corner of the classroom. The way the class was situated was that it was supposed to look like a college classroom with the elevated seats and all. There were three sections: the two outside section of seats were two seaters while the center was a three-seater desk. As usual the class was out of control with paper airplanes in the air and spitballs flying all over the place. The eight people sat there among their friends talking quietly to each other while the boys ignored the ogling from their fangirls. Sasuke actually sat alone in his two-seater, not allowing anyone to sit beside him. Naruto and Hinata were at the very top with Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji across them, and Neji and Tenten just across Sasuke.

"When will this class ever be quiet?" Ino said annoyed as she glared at the immature people below.

Shikamaru sighed, putting his head in his arms as he rested on the desk. "Mendokuse," he muttered before falling completely asleep.

Sasuke ignored his friends' complaints as he continued to stare out the window. The New Year has begun and it's so boring already. The snow was now five inches thick which made him angry to no end as he drove to school. The roads were difficult to go through since everyone was being so damn stupid. And when he got into the school parking lot, it was far worse! Nobody knew how to park anymore! Some of cars weren't even in line up straight or some didn't even park in the right spot! Seriously, these people need to take driver's ed again.

_Ring!_

_'Finally! Now we could finally get the new semester started,'_ Sasuke thought to himself as the professor entered the room. He could hear the professor muttering to someone, but thought nothing of it until she gave an announcement to the class.

"Alright, everyone! Take your seats!" the professor yelled, getting the attention of all students. From above him, he heard Naruto suck an intake of air and lifted a brow at the blonde. Naruto shook his head, saying it was nothing and faced the front with a stiff expression, making Sasuke wonder. "We have a new student among us today, and please be respectful, alright!" turning to the door and walking towards it, she escorted the student in, making Sasuke's eyes go wide in shock.

_'It's her! The girl!' _

There were gasps heard all around the class as everyone brought their attention to the girl up front. Her eyes were blind folded with white bandages. Sasuke turned to look at Naruto. The blonde felt the intense stare and glanced down at his best friend and back up without another word. _'What is she doing here? I thought she was at Yuki.'_

"Everyone, this is our new student, Haruno Sakura," Kurenai introduced as murmurs and whispers broke out instantaneously among the students.

"Nee, isn't it that pianist girl?" Ino asked Shikamaru while pointing to the girl.

The genius nodded at her speculation, but corrected her on some things. "Well, she is a pianist, but Haruno Sakura is mostly known throughout the world as the most renown composer," he said, also staring down at the now blind girl. "She's composed over one hundred pieces at the age of eleven. Odd age, don't you think?" he said with an intent gaze pointed at Naruto.

The young man frowned, growling. "I don't know what you're talking about, Shikamaru, you lazy ass."

Sasuke, on the other hand, noticed the clenched fist the blonde's hand was in and was sure that Naruto knew something.

"Alright, where should we put you…?" Kurenai muttered to herself until she noticed the empty seat by Sasuke. "Sasuke! Come down here and help Haruno-kun—" However, before Kurenai continued, Sakura lifted her right hand to stop her, indicating that she didn't need anyone's help. The brunette didn't seem too sure to let her new student walk without a guide. "Demo—" Sakura turned to her right where Kurenai was still standing and gave a bow to her before leaving to the indicated seat. But when she reached the steps, the girl just stood there as if waiting for something. Sakura turned a bit and the professor finally realized what she was doing. "Go up five steps and the seat will be on your right."

Nodding, Sakura took her cane and began tapping her way up, making sure she didn't hit anyone or trip. Successfully, she was in her seat within two minutes. Sasuke just sat as far away as he can possible, finding her blinded eyes a tad bit eerie. With his hands folded in front of his face, he kept on glaring at her until she finally noticed and turned slowly in his direction. The movement, itself, sent shivers down his spine as she proceeded to stare blindly in his direction.

"Nani?" he grunted in annoyance even though he was the one who started this all.

The girl tilted her head slightly to the left without answering. But she suddenly felt another pair of eyes glaring into her back as she turned fully around in the general direction.

Naruto was glaring intensely at the girl and he had a feeling that she knew what with the way she stayed in the same position for a while. The blonde growled and just snapped his head away to glare out the window.

The Uchiha noticed this scene and lifted a brow in interest. _'Does he know this girl?' _he thought, glancing back at Sakura who seemed satisfied with the outcome as she turned back in her seat. Looking at her features, Sasuke took note of her pink hair and remember her green eyes which were probably glazed over now, he assumed. Then his eyes averted to his hot-headed friend, taking in his countenance. _'They do look alike, but does that mean…does that mean that _she _is his missing older sister?'_

Sasuke's eyes roamed up and down her body, taking in the frailness features upon her. _'She looks so fragile,' _he mused, thinking that there was no way that she could have been in a gang and killed one of the most feared men. The uniform on her was very befitting. The school colors are dark navy blue and silver. The entire uniform for girls consisted of: a blue blazer with the school insignia on the left shoulder (leaf symbol); a mid-length skirt that had hidden pockets within the folds of the skirt; a silk silver tie; a silver vest and a black blouse underneath. For the boys, it was the same blazer but larger; the silver tie; silver vest; and silvery white pants. With her pink hair, the colors seemed to make her blend well and look more dazzling than other girls who wore their uniform in a very rude manner.

Feeling his gaze again, Sakura became a bit irritated and fisted her hands a bit to control herself from snapping. It was only five more minutes left to class and it was over. All she had to do was to be patient and calm herself. She wouldn't let herself be like she used to be when she was ten. There was no way she was going back to lifestyle. She was finally free from all the things that made her the way she is. She can't go back, not after all the hard work she did to gain her humanity again. It would be all for nothing if she screwed up. Finally the bell rang as she sprang up and bump into everyone as she rushed her way down to go to her next class, leaving Shinobi, the girls, and the students to stare at her curiously.

-o0o-

_12: 06 pm…Lunch…Hallways…_

As the group walked around the hall, mingling, Sasuke stopped and turned so that he was facing Naruto. The blonde stopped as well, wondering what was up. The expression on his friend's face told him that this wasn't going to be good. With his hands in his pocket and the usual stoic expression on his face, Sasuke walked calmly until he was close enough to his friend, though giving them enough space so that they won't feel uncomfortable.

Chouji furrowed his brow in confusion as he watched the scene. "Sasuke?" he called, but the young man ignored him.

Naruto took a step back, not liking the intense stare pointed at him. "N-nani, teme?"

"That girl, Haruno Sakura, do you know her?" Sasuke questioned in an emotionless voice.

Naruto blinked at the question. "No, why?" he answered instantly without giving it a second thought. "Why would I?"

Sasuke lifted a dark fine brow and tilted his head and looked as the snow fell gradually. "It seemed like you did considering how flustered you were," he stated, looking at him from the corner of his eyes.

Hinata looked worriedly at Naruto. "What does he mean, Naruto-kun?"

"It's nothing, Hinata-chan," the blonde assured.

Then Neji decided to speak up. "It seems like you're hiding something Naruto. You were glaring at that girl the whole time."

"I noticed the same thing here," Tenten piped in while Ino and Shikamaru looked at each other and agree.

Sasuke just stood there watching Naruto's expression, waiting for something to give it away, waiting for Naruto to tell them that Haruno Sakura really is his sister. But the questioning and suspicion had a momentary interruption when they heard footsteps and a soft voice. Everyone looked up over Sasuke's shoulders to see what the commotion was as he, too, turned around curious.

There, at the top of the stairs was the girl they were discussing about with another girl who looked to be a freshman and was bowing in front of her. Sakura just stood still, her head facing forward.

"A-a, Haruno-san, could you p-please sign this?" the girl stuttered as a violent flush rushed to her cheeks.

Sakura said nothing and ignored the girl as she was now walking her way towards them.

The girl ran in front of the blind girl once more and bowed, her face redder than before. "Onegai! It's for my father! He's dying of cancer and he said he wish to meet you one day!" she exclaimed as tears began to flow down her face quickly.

Everyone stood there silently with their hearts pounded, anticipating her answer. However, what Sakura did was something they did not expect. She took the girl's paper, but not pen and ripped it into pieces before her. The young girl's breath hitched violently as she watched the young musician rip the sheet. More fresh tears formed in her eyes as she ran off crying while Sakura stood there unmoving.

Naruto felt angry by the display of emotions or lack of by the girl. _'Just because you're famous, doesn't mean you have to be so heartless!' _he thought angrily and was going to stomp over there until an older man came from the stairs.

"Lady Haruno!" he called out with a smile. Said girl turned around slowly and nodded curtly. "Good! I've finally found you. There's something I need to talk about with you. It's about the concert that's coming up in a few weeks. Do you think you can still perform? I mean it's okay if—"

Sakura held up her hand to stop him and nodded.

His eyes widen in surprise. "You sure? I mean people are going to talk and—"

Again she nodded.

-

"Man, he can still understand her even when she's not talking?" Ino muttered in amazement. "Now that take's skill."

"Which is something that you don't have," Tenten remarked with a roll of her eyes.

"Shut up!" the blonde girl yelled back, embarrassed.

-

The man was going to leave until Sakura pulled on his sleeve, making him glance at her curiously. "Nani, Haruno-sama?" he asked, turning to face her again.

The pink-haired girl did a motion with her hands, indicating she needed a paper and pen. Nodding in understanding, he pulled the small notepad and pen from his back pocket and handed it to the girl. The group on the other side of the hall was wondering what she could be writing. When she was done, Sakura handed both the pen and paper back to the man as he read.

Blinking, he looked at her and said, "Yes, I could, but why?" Again, Sakura took the paper and wrote on it again. Reading the next message, the man's eyes soften and he smiled at the shorter girl. He patted her head like she was a child. "You really are a kind person, despite what people may say about you, Saku-chan."

At that, Sakura lowered her head, her bangs covering her face. She shook her head at the thought and clenched her fists, remembering what happened to Suzuki.

Sensing her pain, the man left his hand on her head and bended down to her level. "Don't worry, Sakura. It wasn't your fault, alright? You've got to stop blaming things on yourself and maybe then, you'll have the strength and confidence to speak, huh? Just be good and be yourself; that's all you need to do, kay? Now don't do anything to hurt yourself like you usually do. I'll see you in three days." With that being said, the man left the girl only to her thoughts.

Shinobi and the girls just stared at the young woman who looked so out of place in this school. They watched her calmly as she slowly moved to the window where she felt the cold. Sakura placed one hand on the window and sighed as she let her head leaned against the cool fogged glass.

-

Sasuke didn't like what he saw. It made him annoyed the way she acted. And from what he heard, it was like she was doing everything in her power to help everyone in spite of any kind of condition she was in, she was always trying. Feeling aggravated, he let out a grunt and turned to walk back in the original direction, leaving his friends to wonder about his behavior. Naruto, however, ignored the fact that Sasuke left and trained his eyes on the young woman standing by herself. There was pain in his eyes. _'Onee-sama… after all these years… why did you suddenly come back?'_

* * *

_Yup, So Sakura is Naruto's older sister! It'll be far more interesting once I get into the later chapters about the whole gang thing and such. Yeah, if you want to keep reading instead of me discontinuing this, better review or wait in agony!_

_Winter's Holly_

_Read and Review!_


	3. Chapter III: Strangers

WOO! This chapter took a while, but I did! I feel so damn proud of myself! -squeals in happiness- I updated for two stories and I'm almost done with another chapter for Celestial Abyss! Freakin Awesome! Anyways, I'm very sorry for the long delays! It's just that I have to read three books, but I've been procrastinating a lot so I'm screwed for my AP Lit class! LOL! So this is another present for the New Year! WOO! Yup, besides homework, remember how I said that I WASN'T going to have any high school drama EVER? I guess that's too late, huh? If you read my other story 'Illicit,' if you haven't then listen up! -sobs while drinking Mountain Dew- Is it bad if you fall for your best friend who's already involved with your other best friend who's like your brother? Hey! I'm not lesbian, alright! The GUY I'm in love with happens to be bi! -droops head in pity and shame- Yup and his boyfriend is like a brother to me! And my other best friend (girl) is in love with my brother! Oh get this! Instead of just four people in a triangle...well...square! It's NOW A HEXAGON! My other best friend, her boyfriend is now love with the same I guy I'm in love with (yeah, he's bi too). IS THAT NOT SAD OR WHAT! So yeah, it was such a disaster at prom (it's Idado)! My best friend whose boyfriend is you know, knew that I was in love with him since APRIL! HOW DO I NOT NOTICE THIS, BUT SHE DID?! Yeah, I was in SERIOUS DENIAL PEOPLE! Oh, I was crying for five days and nights and haven't eaten because of HIM! -hisses- And you know what else is bad?! HE IS SO FREAKIN DENSE! I JUST WANTED TO SMACK HIM UPSIDE THE HEAD! MEN! THEY'RE SO MUCH TROUBLE, I SWEAR TO GOD! AND YOU KNOW WHAT! I SAID I WAS GOING TO FORGET _EVERTHING! _BUT APPARENTLY, IT'S A LOT EASIER SAID THAN DONE! -SCREAMS IN ANGER- THIS FUCKING SUCKS ASS! AND KNOW HOW I FINALLY ACCEPTED THAT I WAS IN LOVE WITH THIS MORON? I HAD TO KISS HIM! YEAH, YOU MAY THINK IT'S CUTE, BUT I FIND IT HORRIBLY WRONG! I CRIED AGAIN AFTER THAT! YEAH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ME! I USED TO BE A BAD ASS NOW LOOK AT ME! A FREAKIN CRY BABY! MAN! -BANGS HEAD ON WALL- OUCH! OKAY, OKAY! I'LL STOP NOW!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own the plot thank you very much! Let's see I don't own the songs as follows: Itsuki no Komoriuta (Japanese Music Box), Claire de Lune, or Vivaldi B-Minor! HOWEVER I do own the cd's they are on! HAHA! BEAT THAT SUCKERS!**

_Also! Excuse my grammar errors for I rushed to get it updated!

* * *

_

Chapter III: Strangers 

_By: Winter's Holly_

_"We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken." Fyodor Dostoevsky_

_4__th__ of January…Hokage Private School…1: 55 pm…_

As the bell rang loudly,signaling that fifth period will begin in four minutes which happens to be Sasuke's music class, all the student immediately went to their lockers fast. Thought, while the students rushed quickly like frantic little children, Sasuke, somehow, seemed to be able to walk slowly among the sea of people without being hit or shoved. Although, it is odd that he still manages to get to class on time, despite having to go to the performing arts building which is across the campus. A couple of minutes later, the young Uchiha walks through the door frame as the bell rings at the same time. Instantaneously, the girls gathered around him as he stood with a face of irritation. However, in that commotion, Sasuke saw in his usual spot on the steps by the window was blind girl, Haruno Sakura. His beautiful obsidians turned darker at her presence. Her calmness irked him for some reason as she sat still as if she was a sculpture. Then as if sensing him, Sakura moved her head by a twitch, trying to figure out where the gaze was coming from. Sasuke lifted his brow, wondering if she was blind before because it's like she's already use to the sightlessness.

"Everyone take your places and let us begin today's lecture," the instructor said as he moved to the center of the classroom.

Sasuke glanced at the professor for a brief second then at the girl before going to her direction. Quietly and nonchalantly, he moved around the students until he sat next to the blind young woman. At least, she doesn't talk much. For him, that was heaven. Other girls would talk his head off which would annoy him to the no end.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" the instructor called for roll as Sasuke lifted his hand in response. The man checked off the name on his clipboard before moving onto the next person. "Now, for today we going to—"

"Sensei! You forgot the blind girl!" one student, particularly a girl, yelled catching everyone's attention. Again, like first period, whispers and murmuring began. However, Sakura sat like nothing happened. The man noticed and blinked. "Ah! Gomen, Haruno-san!" he said and then looked at everyone in the music room. "Class, this is Haruno Sakura. Please be on your best behavior. She, as you all have noticed is blind, but despite that fact, she is a very great musician!" Right when he was about to continue, Sakura held up her hand to stop him, having enough of the praises. She moved her hand forward a bit to indicate for him to begin the class. The man coughed in embarrassment and started to talk about their lesson for the day.

Sasuke sat quietly as the man continued and once in a while he would give her a side glance like he did at the beginning of the day. He found it odd that she was now in Konoha when she was in the country, Yuki. Why did she transfer here in the first place? Well, it could be that she wanted to switch schools. But that would be an absurd idea, considering Kazahana Institute was a very prestigious school. Sasuke shook his head in frustration.

_'Why am I wondering about something so stupid in the first place?' _he thought with a scowl on his perfect face. _'It's not my business anyway.'_

In the middle of his thought process, he felt a soft brush on hand, catching his attention. On his right, the girl seemed to have lost something as her hand felt in the areas around her. Sasuke frowned, not liking how weak she looked. But then he noticed something on the carpeted step a pencil by her foot. So that was what she was looking for. He looked at her again and noticed something else. A small movement in her jaw was seen as she tried to keep her temper in check. He gave a tiny smirk, finding it a bit amusing. A proud person gone blind and now trying to live a normal life was almost too funny. Though, of course, he can imagine how hard a life like that would be.

Then she stopped and paused, her face in his direction. The young man blinked in surprise, wondering if she knew that he was smirking at her. Sasuke watched as her lips moved into a frown, but saw from the corner of his eyes that her hand had found the pencil without his help. And the way she had snapped her hand up, it made him realize that she did _know. _She knew that he wasn't going to help her even if she is blind. And that wasn't going to stop her. For the first time, Sasuke felt genuinely confused. This girl still has so much pride and dignity in her no matter her situation. Of course, if he were her, he'd still have his pride and dignity; though, with his temper, he would have soon given up. But her, she's still trying to live her life as if nothing had changed. His lips opened to say something until the professor called him down.

"Sasuke, come down here to play the piano for us, won't you?" he called as the young man grunted, descending from the top. When Sasuke sat on the bench, everyone held they're breath to listen to him play. Apparently, the instructor does this to him often seeing as how he doesn't care anymore. At the beginning of his freshman year, he was a bit peeved every single time the instructor would call him to play for the class. But after a while, he got used to it and just played. As he sat, Sasuke looked at Sakura again, seeing that he had caught her interest when the professor told him to play the piano.

"The song is mine and it's called 'Itsuki no Komoriuta,'" Sasuke said as he took a deep breath and his fingers moved across the keys slowly. Immediately, the song starts off as a melancholy tune with a high pitch while his left hand moved quickly for the next note. The right seemed to float as it played the main notes. It was like a soft lullaby played in the times of sadness, yet it had a meaning of hope for the future. It was what it felt like to him. Also, because it reminded him of his mother. She told him that when she was a child she had favorite lullaby and couldn't remember it, so he made this song for her. As he started to move to a close, Sasuke opened his closed eyes to look at the girl sitting quietly on the steps. Her head was slightly tilted to the left as she listened to his melody. Her hardened features were softened. If the bandages weren't around her eyes, they would've been closed, letting her drift back into her memories. His fingers hit the final note, bringing the song to a close while the room was filled with the continuous silence.

The instructor nodded and clapped his hands while others followed suit. Sasuke stood up and gave a bow to the professor before returning to his place by Sakura. "Now, Haruno-san, can you come perform for us as well?" he asked and then turned to the rest of the class. "I want everyone to watch her closely."

Sakura went up to her feet steadily and with her cane, began moving down the steps carefully. The man aided her to the piano once she reached the bottom. Feeling for the bench Sakura then set the cane beside the bench. Again, the silence and tense atmosphere returned.

"I can't believe we're going to see her play in person!"

"I know! It's so cool!"

"She's going to play like that? Without being able to see? That's impossible!"

"But it's Haruno Sakura! She can do this in her sleep!"

The comments rolled around the room, but the young woman ignored it easily and began to play. Music flowed from the instrument, quieting the students. Sasuke listened intently and watched with an impressed expression that she really is playing despite her new blindness. The relaxed pose she was in showed him how much music was really part of her life. It was like there was no one in the room except for her and the piano. Everything else was just a constantly moving blur. Could the feeling that she felt was the same that he feels all the time when he was on stage performing to his large crowds of fans? Did she feel the same peace like he did? Or the same anger or sadness? Was performing the only way she could express her emotions, too? He wanted to know; he wanted to know what was going through this quiet girl's mind.

And all too soon, the music ended with the class clapping loudly, bringing the raven-haired young man back to reality. "Splendid, Haruno-san, just splendid!" the man praised right when the bell rung. "Remember to practice the pieces I gave you for the upcoming finals!"

The students rushed quickly away, hoping to get to their locker on time. As the Uchiha packed his belongings away, he noticed that the Haruno was still sitting at the piano. Frowning, he just walked down the steps and towards the door, not caring if she was going to be late or not. It wasn't his problem anyways. However, right as he stepped off the last step and past the quiet girl, a grip was felt on his arm as he turned to see that it was her who stopped him.

"Do you need something?" he demanded coldly, wondering why in the world she stopped him.

Sakura didn't say a word but pointed to herself and tilted her head to the left as if she was confused. But that made Sasuke confused instead while he tried to figure out what she wanted. The girl pointed towards herself again then to her head and then himself. Sakura repeated the motions until it clicked in the boy's head.

Sasuke finally got it and blinked with an incredulous expression. "Omae…you remember me?" he asked skeptically. _'She remembers me even though she can't see me. I don't think we've ever spoken a word to one another.'_

"Demo, I haven't even spoken a word to you," he reasoned, still baffled. "How can you know that I'm the same person you met?"

At this, Sakura tilted her head a little forward. It was as if she was saying something obvious and that he had missed something very important. But before he could ask another question, the music teacher called towards them.

"Mr. Uchiha and Ms. Haruno, please go to your classes or you'll be late," the man said, as he wrote down notes on the board for his next class.

Both students nodded and left the class. Sasuke was about to go off to his next class when he remember the blind girl. Quickly he turned to ask her if she was related to Naruto, but she had already gone off in the other direction. _'Are you Naruto's older sister?'_

-_Scene 2-_

_3: 30 pm…After School in the Parking lot…_

"So what do you think of that girl so far?" Ino asked as she walked to her car with Hinata and Tenten.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders in indifference. "Well, she seemed alright to me when we were in gym class," she answered promptly. "But you know what's cool about her though?"

"Iie," Hinata said. "Tell us."

Tenten had a big grin on her face as she began her story. "It was so awesome! You know how people who suddenly become blind and how they struggle to adjust right?" her friends nodded their heads in response. "Well, it's like she wasn't blind at all! The way she played basketball and evaded all those kids—it was damn sweet! You guys should have seen it!"

Both Ino and Hinata blinked and looked at each other. Never had they seen Tenten so excited and over a person no less. The only things that usually made her this ecstatic were Neji, sports, and weapons. And what she hated were loners and bullying. She couldn't ever stand those kinds of people which were how she met up with Hinata and Ino. Hinata was always picked when Neji wasn't around and Ino would be the one to pick on the weak. Well and how they became friends is actually for a different time.

"Tenten-chan, I've never seen you so…crazy about a new person before," Hinata attempted to express her bewilderment.

Ino rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "What Hinata is trying to ask is, are you planning something odd again?" Ino asked instead with a lifted brow. "We know how you are: if there's someone you like, you'll try to recruit them in our group, but knowing how everyone around here is crazy, we can't let them join. Plus the fact that our other friends are the infamous band Shinobi, we can't let any girls in."

"Don't worry! I just thought she was cool, but I don't really like her attitude, though," the tomboy defended herself.

The girls continued to the car and waited until the boys got there. "Doyo koto, Tenten-chan?"

"Hmm, well, let's see…when I was going to introduce myself and, you know, being friendly and stuff, she just slapped my hands away." Tenten leaned on the front passenger door as she propped her elbows on the roof and looked at the clouds. "And I also wonder why she ripped up that freshman's paper. Poor girl only wanted an autograph for her father. She didn't have to be so rude about it."

"Maybe, she just didn't want to be bother or something," Hinata reasoned, trying to see the light in things.

The blonde sighed exasperatedly as she shook the Hyuuga's shoulders. "Are you kidding, Hinata?! That is no way to get rid of your problems by making others' lives miserable! That's just plain wrong!"

The dark-haired girl gave a nervous laugh. "D-demo, Ino-chan—"

"No! It's wrong! If that guy hadn't shown up, I would've beaten that girl up with Naruto!"

"What about me?" a voice asked, making the girls snap their head at the source. There in front of them was the band all with baffled expressions.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed with a light blush on her face.

"Hey, Hinata-chan," the Uzumaki greeted with a grin as he gave Hinata a peck on the cheek. "I've got permission from your uptight cousin to take you out tonight, so you wanna go?"

The shy girl stared at her elder cousin with a frown. "Neji-niisan?"

"You can go," Neji allowed, though with a peeved expression as Tenten just laughed. "Come on, I'll bring you home."

Shikamaru went up to Ino and took her arm, dragging her to his car while Chouji followed with a bag of chips in his hands. "See you guys tomorrow," he said lazily with a small wave of his hand.

"Sayonara, minna!" Ino cried into the poor guy's ear.

"Kuso! Ino!"

She giggled and stuck out her tongue. "Gomen!"

As all was about to go off in their separate ways, a scene by the gate caught their attention. Sasuke, who was being quiet for the entire time, was going by his car with Neji didn't stop at all until he heard a familiar voice.

-

"Excuse me, demo, are you Harada-san?" It was the same who met with Sakura earlier. Beside him was blind musician herself, standing silently as usual.

The little freshman nodded, her brown eyes still concentrating on the junior. "H-hai…" she mumbled, scared that she might be yelled at again.

The man smiled gently and gestured to Sakura. "Haruno-sama wishes to know how long your father had cancer," he said.

Harada's brows furrowed. "Eto…for six years now, demo we don't really have enough money for the treatment," she answered. "That's why Otousan wanted to meet you before he died."

Sakura remained quiet as she walked up blindly to the girl. She stuck her hand which held a check for ten thousand dollars. Harada stared at the check in Sakura's hand before looking up to see her bandaged eyes. Tears gathered in the young girl's eyes as she embraced the older girl tightly in gratification. "Arigatou, Haruno-san! Thank you so much!" she cried in happiness.

Sakura, on the other hand, was very surprised, but remained calm as she patted the girl's head. Harada continued to cry until Sakura gently pushed her away. Eventually, she had stopped crying and thanked Sakura over and over again. She finally left, giving a wave.

The man beside Sakura chuckled lightly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You really are generous, aren't you?" he questioned with a smile that she'll never see again. "Do you want me to escort you to the limo?"

Sakura shook her head and beckoned him to go home.

"Are you sure?" he asked again, but Sakura just assured him with a nod of her head. "Alright, but call me if you need something. Ja!" With that, he ran off and left the girl to herself.

-

"Did you see that?!" Ino immediately yelled once the man disappeared. "She just gave that freshman a check to help her father! And here we thought she was just being cruel! Man, were we wrong or what!"

Everyone who was near the screaming blonde had their eyes twitching in pain or covering their ears. Chouji glanced at Ino with an irate look before speaking. "Maybe there is something more than meets the eye, eh?" he said with a smirk.

While the others conversed with each other, Sasuke moved his gaze to his best friend who kept his gaze on the pink-haired girl. His blue eyes remained lifeless as he stared with some sort of bewilderment in them. Sasuke went up to Naruto, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Oi, dobe. Daijoubu ka?"

As if he just woke up from a dream, Naruto looked about himself wildly until he calmed down, realizing his surrounding areas. Hinata gazed worriedly at her crush. "Naruto-kun? You look tired. Are you sure you want to go out tonight? I can wait, you know."

The blonde shook his head with a small smile. "I'm fine; I was just thinking that's all," was his answer.

_Cough!_

_Blood…_

_More coughing…_

…_More blood…_

Blue eyes widen in fear at the sight as Sakura fell to the ground coughing out blood immensely. Instinctively, Naruto let go of Hinata and ran to the fallen Sakura. "Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" he screamed unthinkingly, as he rushed to his elder sister.

The entire group of friends was shock beyond belief. Haruno Sakura was his sister, his missing sister. But…but, why didn't he tell them that before? Why did he act as if he didn't know her? Everything was too complicated at the moment.

"Guys! Call the ambulance! Hurry!" Naruto's desperate cries caused everyone to come out of their reverie and into the real world. His friends ran by his side as he tried to help his sister up, but she quickly pushed him away roughly. "Onee-chan! It's me, Naruto! Come on! Let me help you!"

Again, Sakura pushed Naruto away while coughing blood at the same time. When he went to grab her again, she managed to land a punch on his cheek as he staggered back. Surprised and angry at the same time, Naruto marched up to Sakura and grabbed her wrists to prevent her from thrashing about rashly.

"Damn it, Sakura! Knock it off!" he yelled loudly, causing his friends to look at him as if he was a different person. "Why do you keep doing this, huh? Why are you trying to push us away?! We're trying to help you!"

Sakura stopped struggling and went still with the crimson liquid sliding down the side of her mouth and onto the ground.

"Whoa, Naruto…just calm down," Shikamaru said slowly as he laid a hand on the blonde's arms.

"No! She always does this! She won't let anyone in even if she's on the verge of dying!" Naruto screamed in rage, remembering the day that she abandoned them for some reason he didn't know. "When are you going to stop running away!"

Sakura thought about it, his words. Of course, only her brother would hit a nerve without even realizing that he did. He was always too naïve for his own good. And that is why she had to leave. It was because of the way he lived, the way her family lived. She couldn't live like that even if she did come from a very good family. It was a place she didn't belong at all. And that's why she'll do all it takes to get away from that family, even if it means to hurt them all so bad that she'll end up being alone.

Feeling a renewed strength, Sakura moved her wrists which were still in Naruto's hands and grabbed his instead. Getting a good stance, she pivoted her hips a bit and used most of her upper body strength to throw him over her and throwing him into one of the cars. She felt eyes on her back as she stood up straight and wiped the blood from her chin. _'Stay away from me,' _she thought vehemently as her feet turned on its heels and marched right on out of the school parking lot.

The group watched as the girl entered the car and slammed the door shut loudly. When the vehicle left, silence engulfed them as the winter breeze ominously blew by them.

"That was awesome!" Tenten suddenly shouted, making everybody jump and scream in surprise.

"Ahh!" Ino yelled as she stomped over and smacked her friend upside her head. "What the hell, you moron! You scared the shit out of us!"

The brunette tomboy chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry, I just got a little excited?"

"A little?!" Naruto, in turn, demanded, making his way over while getting the snow off his clothes. "Man, now my uniform's all wet," he grumbled.

Again, the quietness surrounded them. "So…that was your older sister?" Neji asked cautiously, eying the loudmouth.

"Yeah," Naruto grumbled again with a peeved expression.

"But, I've got a question," Chouji piped in.

"Nani?"

"Are you sure she was bullied? It seems like she was the only who bullied people not the other way around," the thick man said through the food he chewed.

Ino and Tenten burst out laughing at the comment. "Hai, hai! She totally whooped your ass!" Ino said with tears coming from her eyes.

"And here I thought only Sasuke can do that to you!" Tenten added as she turned to the raven boy. "Looks like you have some competition!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and grunted. "Whatever, I'm going home," he said quietly as he went back to his car.

"See ya, teme!" Naruto yelled at his best friend while Sasuke just returned the farewell with a curt wave. As his grin turned into a solemn gaze, only a thought lingered in his mind. _'He knew that she was my sister all along…'_

-_Scene 3-_

_6: 30 pm…Konoha Hospital…_

The clock ticked annoyingly as Sakura sat impatiently on the brown seat while white paper she sat on made an irritating crinkling sound each time she would move. If she had her eyesight back, her eyes would have been staring at the walls, trying to keep herself occupied. But unfortunately, due to her new circumstances, all Sakura can do was wait and keep her hands from clenching. Patience was never part of her virtues. Every since she was young, Sakura always hated waiting and the night. Every time the two would mix, it would make things even more tense for the young musician. When she was younger, Minato, her father, would always sooth her whenever she went to bed. It was the only way for her to sleep if someone was beside her. If there wasn't, well…she would stay awake all night waiting by the window for the sun to rise. It felt as though time would move so slowly for her each time night come around. And it always made her scared that the light would never come and she'd always be surrounded by darkness forever. That was what she felt for the first few months she spent at Kazahana Institution until she met Suzuki and lived with her instead.

Upon thinking, Sakura lowered her head, knowing that Suzuki won't be with her anymore. She'll be alone in the dark again. As she wallowed in sadness, she didn't notice that the door had opened to reveal her a new doctor. The woman was known for her medical abilities and for being the granddaughter of the man who first built Konoha. Though, her countenance was that of a twenty year old instead of fifty. How she did that, we'll never know.

"Namikaze Sakura, I assume," she said in a professional manner as Sakura slowly lifted her head to the source.

She nodded slowly in response, not feeling any energy at the moment.

The woman frowned at her behavior before walking to her and taking her cold hands. "Kikimasu (listen), I'm not going to give any hopes or bring you down like other doctors, alright? But I want you to understand that I'm going to help you so that you can still live your life as if you were never blind. Do you understand?"

Contemplating on her words, Sakura decided that she actually like this woman. She cuts straight to the point unlike others. So Sakura nodded silently.

Smirking, the doctor stood up with hands on her hips. "Yoshi! I'm Tsunade and I'm going to be your doctor from now on! If you're wondering why, it's because I know your father as well," Tsunade stated as she dug through the drawers, not seeing Sakura's head snap up. "I won't be surprised if you confused right now, so I'll just make the long story short. My father was the Hokage of Konoha and since your father currently the fourth right now, I come by from time the time to check on him. Your father is my friend's student. Do you know him, Jiraiya?" Tsunade turned back in time to see Sakura shake her head. Walking over to the young girl, Tsunade began to remove the bandages. "You really don't talk much, do you?" Again, she said nothing. "But that's fine; I'm going to help you talk again." Tsunade smiled at the girl, watching her fists clenched on the seat. "Minato always talks about you, Sakura. He told me how he always hears you play your music on television and on the radio. Your brother, Naruto, talks about you nonstop, though." At this, she finally got a reaction from the quiet girl. "He said that even though you are cold at times, you tend to be more kind towards others than yourself. He worries for you all the time. Naruto said that it's all thanks to you that he's more confident than he used to be. You must be a great sister for him to say that."

A hand shot up to stop Tsunade's from continuing. The older woman gazed at the young girl with no emotion on her face as Sakura's hand continued to shake furiously. Sakura moved her head slowly left to right, saying contrary to Tsunade's words. Not saying a word, the doctor removed the last of the bandages, now waiting for Sakura to open her eyes.

Gradually and hesitantly, blurred green eyes were revealed as Sakura gave a blink. Her hands shot out instinctively, afraid of being alone in the dark. "It's alright. Calm down, Sakura. I'm here," the woman assured. "I want you to sit still for me while I check your eyes." As she said this, Tsunade pulled out a light pen from her pocket and shined it into the girl's eyes. Her pupils didn't retract from the light at all. Her eyes didn't even blink. "Hmm…" Tsunade checked her eyes again only this time her pupils moved slightly, but that was it. "Well, your pupils do react if light shines into it for a long time. Tell me, do you see my shadow?"

Sakura saw nothing but the black. She shook her head.

"Interesting," Tsunade said to herself. "Well then, do you see this?" She shined the light sharply into the girl's eyes. Sakura nodded, but held up her hand and gestured to show that she only saw tiny. The blonde frowned at the lack of words. She put her two fingers on Sakura's throat and said, "Speak for me. Say your name."

Well, Sakura tried to say her name, but it was the same result. However, Tsunade felt a faint vibration in the girl's neck and urged her to try again. It didn't work, so Sakura tried again. Finally after seven tries, Sakura managed to make a small sound, but it hurt her throat greatly to do so that it left her panting.

Tsunade let out a faint sigh before moving her hand away and crossed her arms. "Did something happen to you when you were young? Did you get bullied a lot after you left?"

For a while, Sakura didn't answer and only just sat there, reminiscing her childhood. Finally she nodded.

Seeing as how she wasn't going to explain, Tsunade sighed and patted the girl's head. "It's fine, Sakura. You don't have to explain if it's too painful. I understand."

Blinking at the sudden kindness, a tear involuntarily formed as it slid down her cheek. Bringing a hand to her face and wiping the salty liquid, Sakura was surprised. She was crying. She was crying for real for the first time in ten years. Holding onto Tsunade tightly, Sakura cried harder until she was sure she would have fallen had the woman not been there.

As she cried, Tsunade smiled at her patient and embraced her until Sakura fell asleep. "All she needed was someone to understand her," she murmured as she stroked the young woman's hair. "Maybe she'll find someone who can understand not partially, but wholly."

Tsunade gazed out of her window to see a clear night sky. _'I should call her parents now.'_

-_Scene 4-_

_7__th__ of January…Friday Evening…Namikaze Estate…_

"Sakura-chan!" Kushina cried out as she saw Sakura fall from the stairs, staggering as blood began to seep through her clothes. "Honey, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting!"

Everyone in the living room, meaning Shinobi and the three girls and Minato, were alarmed to hear Kushina yell at Sakura. So all went to see what was going on and to see if they could help in any way.

"Doushita, Kushina?" Minato asked as he made his way toward his wife and daughter.

"Minato-kun, help me get Sakura-chan into her room. Could you make her medicine? She's bleeding again," the red-head said as she tried to get her daughter to rest.

But Sakura only pushed her away roughly just like she did Naruto three days ago. Her younger brother went up to lift Sakura off her feet and swung her onto his shoulders, making her more furious.

"Sakura, knock it off! You have to rest already!" Naruto scolded as he began to ascend the staircase.

Minato groaned in annoyance as he ran his hand through his hair. Hinata went up to the Namikaze patriarch timidly. "Ano, has this been going on since she came home?" she asked concern.

The man nodded his head as he stared at his children. "Yes, unfortunately. It seems like she doesn't want to live with us at all," he said with a pained expression.

When Sakura heard that, she stopped moving, making Naruto look at her. He frowned at her lack of reaction as did everyone. "Is it true, Onee-sama? You don't want to live with us?" he asked with a panicked look.

Sakura nodded as a cold look replaced her furious one.

Naruto placed her down gently and allowed Sakura to make her way back down. "Then who are you going to stay with huh?" he called out angrily.

Ino turned to the Namikaze. "I could let her live with me if you like," she offered as she looked at the blind girl. But immediately, Sakura shook her head, not taking the offer.

"If you're not going to stay with Ino, then—"

Naruto was soon cut off when the door bell rang. Neji went to get since he was the closest to the door. When he did open it, it was the same man from before.

"Um…hi!" he greeted with a nervous smile until he spotted Sakura. "Lady Haruno, come on. Didn't you say you have to go somewhere?" he asked, not daring to step in, knowing that it would be impolite.

Sakura nodded and moved with the help of her walking stick until she reached the door. Taking her jacket off the coat hanger, she was about to leave the house until Minato called out. "Where do you think you're going, Sakura? You're still unable to go out!"

The young woman shrugged and went out of the door. Neji looked at the man with a frown. "Where are you taking Haruno?" he questioned.

"Well, Haruno-sama wanted to go to meet Harada-san's father at their residence. Would you like to come?" the man asked on his way to the car.

Neji looked back to the room and shrugged. "Might as well go," he said, taking his jacket. "We'll get to see her play up close," he said.

"Oi! Chotto matte!" Tenten cried as she ran to catch up with Neji, also grabbing her coat. "Come on guys! You, too, Mr. and Mrs. N!"

Instantly, everyone except Sasuke and the two Namikaze, groaned while following the two who just left. As every person left, Sasuke trailed behind slowly, only to hear Naruto's parents talk worriedly behind him.

"Minato-kun, do you think it's okay to let Sakura live by herself. I mean, she just came from a car wreck and—" Kushina said until Minato shushed her.

The older man sighed. "It's not like she can't take of herself. She did prove so when she left us, however, I do agree with you," he said. "We can't let her stay by herself, but she doesn't want to live with us."

"Then what should we do? She won't live with Ino-chan, then—"

"She can live with me," Sasuke said after hearing their problem. "Your daughter can stay with me if she refuses everyone else."

Both Namikaze looked at each other with uncertainty that their daughter would stay with a boy. "Demo, Sasuke-kun, are you sure you want to have Sakura-chan at your home? What of your parents and—"

Kushina was once again cut off when Sasuke held up his hand. "Hai; I live alone, remember. My parents live in the Uchiha district so I have a different mansion for myself in the mountains," he explained stoically, still waiting for their answer.

"We'll have to see what Sakura decides when Hinata and Tenten asks," Minato concluded as he led the way out to the limousine. As they entered the car, Minato looked at his wife then out of the tinted window were they could see Sasuke get in his vehicle. "I don't know if I want Sakura to be living with him," he said, making Kushina glance at him and then the young band leader.

"Nande? He is responsible and wouldn't do anything to Sakura-chan," she reasoned, knowing his past history with drugs and alcohol. "Besides, Naruto-chan had set him straight a long time ago. Sasuke-kun hasn't been drinking or smoking since."

The blonde man sighed and leaned his cheek on her head, unconsciously breathing her scent. "You're right," he murmured through her long hair. "We'll let her stay with Sasuke if she refuses the others."

-_Scene 5-_

_8: 23 pm…Harada Residence…_

The door bell rang with a lovely chime as a young brown hair girl went to answer. "I got Otousan! Don't worry about it!" she cried to make her father stay in bed. As she made her way to the door, Harada glanced out of her window only to see dark silhouettes and snow. Confused and curious, the young girl opened the door slowly to find that the same man who was with Sakura earlier was on her front step.

"Good evening, Harada-san," he greeted with a bright smile despite the snow outside. "I don't believe I introduced myself properly. My name is Orikasa Hiroyuki, but you can just call me Orikasa. I'm Haruno-sama's new manager."

Still confused, Harada just introduced as well. "I'm Megumi. Eto…" she peered over his shoulder to see other people with him. "Can I help you with something?"

Orikasa nodded. "Yes, but may we come in first? It's a bit chilly out here and we need to get Lady Haruno inside or she'll become ill again."

"Nani?!" Megumi exclaimed and moved to the side to allow her new guests in. Though she wasn't expecting Shinobi to be there either nor did she expect the Yondaime and his wife to be here as well. "W-what's going on here?"

Tenten went up and answered the question for her. "Hey there, Harada! Don't worry about us! We're just here to watch the show!" Tenten pronounced throwing her arm around the young girl who was also on the same soccer team as Tenten.

"T-Taichou? What are you doing here? And what show are you talking about? What's going on?" Megumi demanded, more confused than she's ever been.

Orikasa went up to Megumi placing a calm hand on her shoulder. "Can you bring your father down? And also do you have a grand piano?" he asked politely in a kind voice.

"Y-you mean?" she stuttered, not believing her ears. Her gaze averted to the quiet woman who was holding her violin next to her brother.

As if sensing her gaze, Sakura nodded slightly, making the young girl's eyes well up in tears. Quickly, she ran up the stairs to her father's room, leaving the large group by themselves.

Kushina went up to Sakura with a hug. "So this is why you wanted to go? To play for this girl? Nande?"

Orikasa answered that for Sakura. "Harada-san's father has cancer and wishes to hear Lady Haruno perform. Not only that, she has only given them ten thousand to help with the cancer treatment."

"Is that why you ripped up her paper?!" Naruto screamed in Sakura's ear but then regret it instantly when the others glared at him along with his older sister. "Ehehe…I guess you didn't know that we knew that, did you?"

And to answer his question, Sakura moved Kushina to the side and went up to Naruto easily since he was next to her with a raised fist. If there was one thing she found annoying was that people don't mind their own business. Naruto always did this ever since they were kids. He can never keep his nose out of other people's business ever.

"Now, now Sakura, be nice to your brother," Minato reprimanded, but went up to put her hand down, knowing she wouldn't listen anyways. He turned to Naruto with a frown. "And you really need to learn to keep to your own issues. Stop bothering Sakura. It's no wonder she always beat you to a pulp all the time when you were younger."

"Demo, Oyaji!" Naruto protested, but stop when Minato gave him a warning look. "Hai, Otousama."

"What are you doing, Megumi?" an old tired voice was heard from the top of the stairs as everyone averted their gaze. The man, who was in his late forties, saw his guests with wide eyes until his gaze landed on the pink-haired musician. "Haruno Sakura? _The _Haruno Sakura?" he said in shock. And then he saw the Namikaze and the band and the other girls (who are from good families if you didn't catch on by now). When he and his daughter reached the final step, he gave a low, respectful by to the Yondaime. "Welcome to our humble home, Yondaime-sama."

Minato went to the man and gave a bow in return. "Thank you for letting us be here tonight, Harada-san," Minato said properly. "I hope we aren't troubling you."

"No, no! It's an honor to have you here. Arigatou!" Harada replied with gratitude.

Sakura went up with the help of her manager and also bowed to the Harada patriarch. When she straightened up, she stuck her hand out without saying a word. It was then that Orikasa began to translate for her since he was so used to her not talking; he knew what her movements meant. "She apologizes for not being able to speak, but she is happy to be here tonight," he said.

Harada looked at the young man and then the girl beside him and finally took her hand, giving it a firm shake while Sakura did the same. "My, you have a very firm hand shake. Very strong," he laughed. "Now, let's bring you to our piano."

As they went to the large room, Tenten and Hinata went up to Sakura on either side of her, making the manager curious. "Um, Sakura-chan, do you want to stay with me?" Hinata started, but guessed the answer already.

Hinata was right. Sakura shook her head and continued her way. The pearl-eyed girl looked at her friend with a shrug. Tenten tried next.

"Do you want to stay with me instead then?" she asked.

Again, Sakura shook her head.

Hinata and Tenten then slowed down until they were with the boys. Naruto went up to them and asked, "Well, did it work?"

Both girls shook their heads and all of their gazes landed on the white circle on her back. "It doesn't look like she would want any kind of help soon, does it?" Ino said, noticing how much pride and dignity is in each and every stride that Sakura takes. "Your sister's very independent ever since she was a kid?" Naruto nodded. "Then it must be hard for her to even ask any help when she's always been on her own."

Naruto looked at his sister and then lowered his head at what Ino said. "Yeah," he muttered.

As they entered the grand room where the piano sat in the center, Orikasa led Sakura to the piano and moved by the others as she prepared. Carefully Sakura took out her violin, tuning it to make sure it sounded okay. She then cleaned her bow again so it would ruin the music when she played later. After several minutes, Sakura stood and reposition herself into a comfortable stance while placing the body of the violin between her jaw and shoulder. Though, she can see nothing, in her mind, she can still see her audience, waiting in anticipation for her to start her music. Taking a deep breath, the young woman closed her eyes and moved her fingers and arm.

Her audience sat in awe as she played her music without having any sheets before her. It was amazing. Not many people can play music without the sheet to guide them, but Sakura did it perfectly without any mistakes.

"This is her Vivaldi B-minor," Orikasa stated as he watched the young woman play. "Usually, she'd play her solo right when the entire orchestra would start first, but she'll have to do without them."

Harada nodded in agreement. "Yes, I've heard her play this once and it was splendid! It sounds even more beautiful without the orchestra as well."

Sakura, on the other hand, was playing the music in her head as if she done this many times before which probably has. Getting into it, she began to move her body more with the rhythm of her music. For her, it _was _odd to play this piece without the rest of the orchestra, but it was fine with her. It was nothing she couldn't handle.

While she played, a pair of onyx eyes were trained on her. Sasuke was simply impressed and that was hard to do. Her music was different from other orchestral music he's heard. She puts a lot of emotions into her music more than what she can do in real life. Music is the only way for her to express the emotions she felt. It was the way he was as well. He sang angrily or softly depending on his mood. He would have continued to play the piano, but classical music isn't his kind of thing. Though, his mother loves it every time he does play. It would make him look like a different person each time he was at the instrument compared to his guitar.

She played for several minutes and as the music almost came to an end, Sakura played the same tune repeatedly but in different pitches each time. Finally, she slowed her violin, making it quieter and quieter until the room was eventually filled with silence. Clapping finally covered up the silence as Harada stood up with a wide grin on his face.

"That was simply wonderful, Haruno-kun! Beautiful indeed!" he cheered as tears came from his eyes. "I'm so happy that I got to hear you play," he sobbed as Megumi held her father.

She eyed Sakura with appreciation and gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you so much Haruno-san," she murmured as tears also came from her eyes.

"Lady Haruno, did you need any assistance with the piano?" Orikasa asked.

Sakura shook her head and used her hand to shoo the man away. However, he didn't go very far when he heard grunting. Looking back, he watched the girl trying to find her case for the violin. Sakura clicked her tongue in annoyance and didn't even notice that everyone was watching her struggle with the new blindness.

_'Kuso! This is so damn fucking hard!' _she swore in her mind, knowing that she can't voice her frustration. Finally after she still can't find it, Sakura threw her violin in rage at the floor, causing it to be destroyed.

"Sakura-chan, honey, it's going to be fine," Kushina said, trying to comfort her daughter. But Sakura only pushed her away, leaving Kushina with a pained and worried gaze. "Sakura-chan!" She was about to run after Sakura until Minato stopped her when Sasuke went instead. "Minato-kun?"

"Let him go talk to her. Maybe he could also tell her of the arrangements as well," he said watching the Uchiha go. But a door was soon heard slammed loudly, causing everyone to wince. "Hopefully, he'll get to her on time."

-_Scene 6-_

"Haruno! Haruno! Yamero!" Sasuke yelled over the loudness of the howling wind.

Sakura had run out of the house and into the snow without any care. She didn't want to be there anymore. She just wanted to disappear. It's too hard to live like this. It makes her feel too weak. It makes her feel like she was vulnerable again. Running blindly, Sakura was unable to see a root of the tree in front of her, so tripped and fell into the cold snow. It was a good thing the snow was thicker or she would have had a bloody head. Getting up, Sakura continued her run until something yanked her back.

"It's me! Calm down!" Sasuke yelled in frustration, getting Sakura to stop struggling, but it didn't work. The girl just kept fighting back.

_'Let me go! Let me go!' _Sakura thought futilely and desperately. _'Just let me disappear! Please!'_

"Sakura! It's me! It's just me!" the young man tried again and finally, Sakura stopped and dropped to her knees. Confused, Sasuke went down on his to see what was wrong. "Haruno?"

_'God damn it! Why didn't I die in that car crash?! Why can't you people leave me alone?!' _Her thoughts ran through her mind like bullets, making her remember things she didn't want to. It was too much pain and agony. All of her hard work now ended up being in vain now that she was blind. What was she supposed to do now? What _can _she do now? How is she supposed to live like this? What if Tsunade won't ever heal her eyes? Can she go on with a life of darkness forever? No…it would hurt too much…

Sakura angrily punched the snow-covered ground over and over and over until her knuckled began to bleed.

Seeing this, Sasuke grabbed hold of her hands, forcing her to stop. "Stop! I know this is hard, but you can't do this to yourself!" he said, realizing how much his words affected himself. These are the exact words he was always telling to himself—to try to live through each day no matter how difficult it may be. "You're only hurting your family more if you do this! Is this what you want?"

Sakura didn't answer, except lower her head so that he wouldn't see her face.

"Isn't that the reason you left?" he asked her, making her surprised. "Naruto told us that you left so that you can come back a better person. Is this what you were talking about? By pushing others away more?"

His hard eyes suddenly soften when her hands shook in his. "You still want to leave, right?" he asked more quietly this time in a monotone voice. Sakura nodded her head slowly. "You can come and stay with me then."

Immediately, her head snapped up at the sudden offer. Her blurry green eyes were wide, but he could see the little glint they showed.

"We can get your things as soon as we're done here," he stated, now helping her up. "The sooner we get started, the sooner we get done. Come on. Everyone's waiting for you."

As they began their way back, Sakura stopped Sasuke. The young man turned in confusion, wondering as to why she did that. He frowned a bit when he asked her. "Nani?" Sakura lifted her head a bit and then raised both her hands to his face. This made him frown more. "What are you…?" the young woman stopped him from talking by moving her hand over his mouth. Then her fingers began to memorize his face by moving them over his eyes, nose, lips, ears, and then she moved her hand to his hair, following the direction it went. When she did, it made her laugh a bit, realizing what it was shaped like.

Sasuke lifted a brow at her bold actions and shook his head. He began to lead the way back again while Sakura held onto his arm, quietly following behind. When the door came into view and silhouettes were seen, Sasuke glanced back at the girl with a smirk on his face. _'Humph…we are strangers to the world…and to ourselves…'_

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How you like them apples! Big ass chapter! This is actually a page longer than the first chapter! Godammit! My fucking fingers hurt like hell! I know! I know! I swear a lot! I tried to stop, but I've been swearing since I was in third grade! I'm telling the truth! If you live in the slums like I did, you have to be tough! Anyways, Sakura's going to move in with Sasuke! Yeah! But things'll get rough from here on out, you know, what with the fans and all! LOL!

**If you would like to listen to the songs that Sasuke and Sakura played in this chapter, go to my profile and it should be under the story status! And there's also a pic of what Harada looked like to me.**

**_Also, for those of you who have read 'Illicit,' I forgot to tell you that Sakura's outfits are on my profile under 'Illicit.'_**

**_Anyways, if you have any questions, feel free to ask it in the review or pm me!_**

OTHER THAN THAT, PLEASE LEAVE ME A LOVELY REVIEW TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW AND I'LL REPLY AS SOON AS I GET! THANKS!

**REVIEW! I MEAN IT!**

Winter's Holly OUT!


	4. Chapter IV: Gratitude

_**Hmm...this is very disconcerting, indeed. I have a lot of alerts for this story, yet, I don't have as much reviews. I don't know why it seriously annoys me, but I guess it's just one of my other pet-peeves about people. -shrugs indifferently- I don't know, it just seriously fuckin pisses me off. Sorry, this is not a really good day, you know. My asshole of a friend (if you could even call him a friend) is moving and lied to us. Yeah, so I'm pretty pissed off right now. He's the one I like, remember. Yeah, he held an "end of the semester" party, but my best friend was on him the whole time even though she knew how much I like him. So I'm pissed at her, too, but apparently she "doesn't" know why I am. I've also received a review, saying that I was very "scary" when I'm angry, I am very sorry if I am frightening anyone! I don't mean to, it's just...bleh! You know what, I hate boys! They are such a WASTE OF TIME! And as much as I try to forget, it's so damn hard! And he even wondered why I was crying! THE NERVE! WHY IS HE SUCH A DUMBASS! IS IT JUST IN THE MALE GENE TO BE STUPID OR SOMETHING! UGH! Sorry to any guys out there who happen to come across this fic! But I'm just irked! SORRY!**_

**_Anyways, I'm sorry for scarying anyone here and I would like to thank those who actually reviewed. And it's not that I don't appreciate those who just put my story on their alerts, it's just annoying. I'm sure if you read my other previously updated fic, then you now how annoyed I am with the lack of reviews. And I will repeat, that I will stop wasting my time if this keeps up. And I'm sure you wouldn't like that at all. Now then! Let's get on with the fic._**

**_Disclaimer: I own neither Kishimoto-Sensei's 'Naruto' nor Asian Kung-Fu Generation's 'Kimi Toiu Hana' and Sakamoto Maaya's 'Sanctuary.' Thanks!_**

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Chapter IV: Gratitude 

_By: Winter's Holly_

_"Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors." Francois De La Rouchefoucauld_

_9: 00 pm…Namikaze Estate…_

Finally the door closed at Chouji was the last to enter as everyone stood still and quiet. Eventually when the atmosphere became too filled with tension and nervousness, the Namikaze patriarch sighed and went up to his stubborn daughter.

"So Sakura have you decided to stay with one of the girls, yet?" Minato asked gently, hoping not to anger Sakura anymore than she already was.

Sakura shook her head and moved her gaze elsewhere, sensing that her father was still looking straight at her.

The man frowned at this. "Did you choose any of the girls at all?"

The girl moved her head to and fro again.

It was then Sasuke stepped up and went beside Sakura. "She has made her decision to live with me, Yondaime-sama," Sasuke said formally and gave a bow, showing that he would take care of her.

Kushina went up to the raven-haired boy and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you'll take good care of Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun," she approved with a sad smile as she glanced at her daughter.

However, the only one who didn't approve would be, of course, Naruto. It's not that he didn't trust Sasuke, but his sister is going to be staying with a boy—his _best friend _no less. And knowing Sasuke's past record, Naruto wasn't all too keen about letting Sakura stay with him, despite _her _past record.

Marching up to Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto said to Sakura, "You're not going with him."

Everyone at this point was beyond surprised. Naruto was commanding his older sister not to go with his best friend. That was hitting below the belt for Sasuke. As a question, Sasuke stood in front of Sakura with narrowed eyes.

The blonde backed up a bit. "Nani, teme?" he questioned acidly.

"Don't you trust me, Naruto?" Sasuke countered back; frustrated that Naruto would think he would do anything to Sakura. "I'm not going to do anything. Besides…"

He didn't voice the rest of his thoughts for he didn't want to anger the boy more. _'…being around you hurts her more…' _he thought to himself instead, glancing at the silent Sakura behind him.

The silence Sasuke gave him, unfortunately, still made Naruto angry as he charged forward and was about to grab the stoic man's collar until a small, cold hand stopped him from doing so. "What the…? Onee-sama?" his blue eyes were filled with confusion as he dropped his arms to his side.

Sakura remained quiet and stared ahead. Then she took Naruto's arms to drag him in the living room where it was just her and her younger brother. All eyes were on them, watching as they went. Sasuke, however, gazed out the window instead, knowing what was going to happen. He wasn't sure how it was going to happen, but his instincts told him that something was bound to occur.

In the living room, Naruto was on the couch with an irritated expression while Sakura stood by the window, leaning against the wall with crossed arms. After a while, Naruto came up to her and looked at her blank face.

His brows furrowed, not being able to read her expressions.

"Nande, Sakura?" he asked quietly.

All of a sudden, he heard scribbling and turned to look back that his sister was writing her response. This, however, pained him to see this.

"Neesan, what happened to you? Why won't you talk?" he whispered sadly, causing Sakura to stop writing.

The girl sighed before finishing her response and handing her brother the notepad she had taken earlier to write on. Her words were still written straight across, but some of written messily.

Taking it, Naruto read aloud: "'I'm doing this because I still need to keep my promise. As for your question about my muteness, I'll keep that to myself. It's nothing that you have to know, Otoutou,'" he finished and looked back at his sister. "Demo, why with Sasuke?"

Sakura took her notepad back to write her own question. She flipped the pad over to show Naruto with a disapproving look on her face. _"He's your friend, Naruto. Don't you trust him?"_

His face crumpled at the words and he could just hear the disappointment in her tone just by reading the words. "I do trust him. He's my best friend, but—" Sakura was already writing her answer, knowing what he was going to say. "—he did drugs and alcohol and has a bad temper. And I'm just worried is all."

Sakura shoved the pad into Naruto's hands angrily.

"'I'm not any better, Naruto. Your friend hasn't killed anyone,'" he read again and lowered his head, sighing in defeat. He couldn't come back with any words to counter that one. He'll just have to trust her judgment and her strength.

The pink-haired girl heard his sigh and sighed herself and moved her arm outward until her fingers brushed his hair. Knowing that it was his head, Sakura placed her hand there just like she did so many years before. It was as if she was saying 'okay' to him again. Sakura bent lower to place a sisterly kiss on her brother's forehead, knowing that he meant well.

Naruto hugged Sakura around the torso like he was little again and buried his face. Sakura just continued to pat his head. "It's been so long, Neechan. I was just hoping that you'd stay with us again, just like the old times," he sighed and opened his eyes to look at his sister whose gaze was empty and forward. Naruto stood up and leaned his forehead on Sakura's with a small frown. "But that'll never happen again, will it?"

Her head shook slowly.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto smiled and returned the kiss on her forehead. "Come on; everyone's waiting," he said casually, taking his sister by the hand. When they came back, the blonde waved his hand and brought Sakura into a brotherly side hug, making the girl twitch a bit. "Well, Sasuke, you win!"

Sasuke smirked and went up to the siblings and held his arm out for Sakura to hold on. But as they were about to go up to her room, Naruto stopped Sasuke. "If you ever hurt her, Teme, I'm going to kick your ass until you're dead, got it?" Naruto threatened, but Sasuke only gave him a cold, bored stare before leaving with Sakura and Kushina trailing behind them.

As they continued onto her room, Kushina walked on Sakura's left side with a smile. She didn't say anything, but she was humming pretty happily. This made her daughter suspicious as Sakura turned to look at her with a lifted brow.

Noticing this, Kushina gave a bright smile. "Nani?" she said cheerfully.

Sasuke also noticed this and wondered what's with the sudden mood change. "Kushina-san, are you feeling well?" he asked in uncertainty as they entered the girl's room.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be!" the matriarch exclaimed and then bent to her daughter's ear. "Sakura, good luck with him!"

Sakura twitched at the comment and went straight into her room, dragging Sasuke in. The room was very cold since no one's been in it for ten years until three days ago. Though every month Kushina would go in and clean the room so that the dust won't make the room smell musky. Switching on the lights, Sasuke can see that Sakura had a thing for black and red. The carpet in the room was a burgundy contrasting to the vermillion red that her comforter was set to. All the wood in the room was either black cherry wood or rosewood. There wasn't any oak or mahogany. Across the room was a large balcony that overlooked the city. Along the right side on the wall were many bookcases; all were filled with thick books of different heights. On the other side was the bed with a canopy that had black as the color of the silk that cover the bed. Next to the bed was a large old-fashion black desk which was neatly organized. On it was also books, mostly, from what he could tell, were music books. There was no vanity at all unlike other female rooms he had seen before. Sakura's room reminded him of a library instead. It was so old-fashioned compared to the rest of the mansion.

"Now, Sakura-chan, what would you like to bring besides your clothes, sweetie?" Kushina asked as she went into the large walk-in closet. There she took two huge suitcases and placed them on the bed and began packing Sakura's clothes.

Sasuke guided Sakura to her desk to see if she wanted to get her music books. "Do you want to bring these with you?" Sasuke asked while Sakura nodded. Upon going through her drawers, he noticed a regular notebook that was titled "Lyrics" and went through it. As he read over the lyrics, he thought that they were really good. "You're really good…were you planning to sing as well?" he asked as curiosity got the better of him as he read the title and the first verse.

_'Sanctuary…'_ he thought.

_Tooku naru yubisaki megakete_

_Nando mo nando mo namae yobu_

_Toki wo sora wo koete_

_Anata wo mamotteiru to tsutaetai no_

_(As I reach out to touch your faraway fingertips_

_No matter where, no matter where, I will be calling your name_

_Transcending time and over the sky_

_I want to tell you that I will protect you.)_

Sasuke read in his mind and thought that this would be an awesome song for her to sing as soon as she regained her voice again. However, before he can read the chorus, the book was yanked from his hand, surprising him. Sasuke looked up to see that Sakura was holding that book as if it was precious to her. Her gaze was on the floor as her bangs covered her expression. The young man frowned and bent until he could see her face, but Sakura just lowered her head more.

"What's wrong? All I said was that it was good," he reasoned, now realizing that she didn't want anyone to see it. "Sorry, I didn't know. Let's just get your stuff packed, okay?"

Sakura lifted her head a bit and nodded.

Sasuke glanced at the short girl beside him for a second and then looked away. However, as soon as he turned back, Sasuke snapped his head back tot see that there was a faint, fading blush on her cheeks still. It was a good thing that Sakura couldn't see or she would've glared at him to death for making fun of her. Sasuke leaned back and smirked a bit before returning to his earlier tasks.

Meanwhile, when all of this was happening, Kushina come out of the closet in time to witness the whole scene with a motherly smile on her lips. She shook her head, knowing that Sasuke will take good care of her baby girl.

-_Your_-

"Alright," Kushina started as soon as she finished helping Sasuke put the luggage in the trunk. "Do you have everything you need, Sakura-chan?

Sakura sat in the front seat with Sasuke in a perfect posture as her mother spoke. The young woman nodded in response to the question.

Kushina gave a pained smile and was about to give her oldest child a hug, but thought twice about it, thinking that Sakura might not appreciate the intrusion of her comfort zone. However sensing this, Sakura took her mother's hand while pulling her down into a loving embrace. If she was unable to say her gratitude, doing it like this is good enough for her and for Kushina.

As this went on, Sasuke just sat in the driver's seat, staring straight ahead without saying a word. It was the polite thing to do, so he gave them their moment. Then when they both pulled back, Minato and Naruto were standing right behind the red-head, waiting for their turn. The blond ran up to his sister and gave her a bear hug, squeezing all the air out of her lungs.

"Dobe, you're going to kill her," Sasuke reminded casually and lifted a brow when Naruto glared at him and stuck his tongue out like a little kid so childishly. Sasuke rolled his eyes at this while muttered, "So dumb as usual."

"Why you?!" Naruto growled and was about to jump over Sakura to get Sasuke until Minato pulled on his son's collar with an annoyed expression as the boy gagged and made choking sounds. "A-air!" he squeaked as his father yanked him back to the side giving him a look. "What?!"

Minato only rolled his eyes and shook his head when the boy settled down with a pout. The Namikaze patriarch then stood before his daughter with an intense gaze. At the same moment, Sakura just wanted to jump and give her father the biggest hug she ever wanted to give ever since she left and tell him how much she missed him. Yes, she a daddy's girl. She always has been even now. Her father supported in everything she did, including her decision to leave. He was never angry with her, just concerned as always.

Sakura took a step forward, feeling his gaze and gave a very and respectful bow she's ever given her father. But after a couple of seconds, she felt a weight on her head and realized that it was her father's hand. She lifted her head a bit and stared blindly ahead. It was odd; even if she couldn't see, somehow she felt his smile and she knew then that he still isn't angry with her. Her eyes blinked a bit until she jumped and embraced Minato tightly. Ah! How good it felt to be held by her father again. It was like she was a child again and it was only her and her father. It was like all the bad things she did never existed.

Minato patted his daughter's head once more, while giving a low chuckle. "I'm right here, my little blossom," he murmured to her. She will always be his little blossom no matter how old she is. She'll always be his little girl.

Sakura buried her face in her father's chest and breathe in deeply, remembering the scent that always made her fall asleep as a child. Those were the good ole days. When nothing came in between them. It was just her and the family.

When it was started to get a late now, Minato and Sakura pulled apart as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Be good for Sasuke, alright?" he asked as she nodded with a small smile for him. He smiled back and patted her head and began helping her in the car. When his daughter was secured, Minato moved to the driver's side and leaned in the window as the young Uchiha looked at him. "Take care of my little girl, Uchiha," he warned, but Sasuke could see the little joking glint in his eyes. As Minato was going to leave, he suddenly remembered a certain detail and leaned back. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention," he murmured, eyeing Sakura to make sure she wouldn't listen. "Don't let Sakura be alone, especially during storm, alright? She doesn't like being in the dark." Sasuke glanced at the girl beside him. Her? But she seems so capable of being by herself. As if reading his mind, Minato answered his silent question. "She's always been like that even if she doesn't say anything. So just make sure she's okay, considering she can't talk anymore."

Looking back, Sasuke nodded. "Hai, Namikaze-san," the young man assured while the older man stepped back and went back to stand by his wife and son. Sasuke rolled up his window again and looked at the girl beside him. Feeling his gaze, Sakura nodded to him as Sasuke began to drive slowly out of the estate due to the snow. When they were finally out of view, Sasuke turned on his radio to the am frequency to see how bad it was going to get tomorrow.

_"And for tonight's weather, we're going to have another bit of snowfall at eighteen degrees. It'll cover most of the city and also the around—"_

Sasuke turned it off again, allowing for the quiet atmosphere to take over. It felt nice not having to try to come up with a conversation. It seems like Sakura likes the quiet herself since she didn't protest when he had turned off the radio. For the whole drive to his home, it was quiet and peaceful. All in all, it took about half an hour to get there, considering he lived on the other side of town on a mountain. Sakura had fallen asleep along the way; so being nice, Sasuke didn't wake her, but instead carried her in. But he was surprised by how light she was. She was really too light. Sasuke frowned at this when he noticed how thin she was. Wasn't she eating? It felt like she was only ninety pounds or lighter. The young man sighed and shook his head. He was definitely going to fatten her up a bit or least get some meat and color onto to her skin. Now that he thought about it, her skin was cold as well. Even when he first met her, her hands were freezing. Man, was this girl sick or something?

Sasuke shook his head again as he nodded his head to his butler to bring in her belongings while Sasuke went to his room and placed her on his bed. For now, she'll sleep here until he set up a guest room for her. But as soon as he set her down, her eyes fluttered opened and she quickly grasps his arm as if she was scared of something.

_'Oh yeah; she's afraid of the dark,' _he remembered as Sasuke began to assure her that he was here.

"Calm down, I'm here," he soothed while Sakura's breathing slowed into an even rhythm. "You'll stay in my room for tonight until I have your room ready tomorrow," Sasuke stated as he stood up and was about to leave until a soft grip was on his arm, making him turn around. Her gaze was blank, but he could see the slight fear of being alone in her eyes. Sasuke sighed and sat on the bed beside her and leaned to his bedside table to pull out a notepad and pen and handed it to the girl. "Here."

Blinking, Sakura reached out and took the pad and began to write. However, in the middle of her writing, she changed her mind and tore off the page, making Sasuke frown in confusion. He didn't ask what she wrote before, not giving it any thought at all. Again, her hand began to move and finally satisfied, she handed it back to Sasuke.

Looking questioningly at the young woman for a second, Sasuke looked at the paper and read to himself silently. _'Arigatou gouzaimasu, Uchiha-san, for letting me stay. I promise I won't be a burden.'_

The young man stared at the girl in front of him before saying, "First off, call me Sasuke. Second, don't worry about being a burden; just call if you need me, alright?" he said but then remembered that she was mute. Taking his cell phone out of the pocket of his jacket, Sasuke asked, "You have a cell phone, right?" Sakura nodded and went to take her red Palm Centro out and handed it to Sasuke with a curious stare. Seeing this, he says, "You have the same phone as me, that's good. Hold on for a second; I'm going to put my number in your phone." As he added his number in, Sasuke put his on speed dial number one, so it'd be easier for her. Afterwards, he pressed the send button and when eight seconds passed, his phone began to ring. He looked at his own black Palm Centro and opened the screen to see one missed call unknown number. Sasuke stored her number into his phonebook and gave her a ringtone that he could recognize right away when she calls. "When you call, don't worry about bothering me no matter what the situation is. It's a good thing that you have this kind of phone because it has speak sms; it'll read my text messages that I'll send you to tell you that I'll be there."

Sakura nodded and took her phone back, but she then gave a questioning blind stare ahead and Sasuke knew what she asked.

"All you have to do is press one and I'll get your call," Sasuke explained further, then pressed onto her name on his phone. A soft tune filled the momentary silence along with a vibration. Sasuke took her phone back and went to the ring settings. "Is your ringtone the same for everyone?" he asked while Sakura nodded with a couple of blinks. "Then I'm going to change it, so that you'll know it's me."

When he was done, Sasuke tried again and this time her phone rang with a different tone as the music faded in, quickly followed by singing.

_Tsumari tada sore_

_Kaze ni matte dake_

_Kimi no me ni tada hikaru shizuku_

_Aa, seiten no hekireki_

_Itami dake nara ni toubun sa, sou sa_

_Bokura no iro_

_(That is, only that_

_Only danced in the wind_

_From your eyes, a lone sparkle trickles_

_Ah, clear sky out of the blue_

_If it's just pain, it's evenly divided, yeah…it's gotta be_

_That's our color)_

The song then repeated itself again and Sasuke snapped his phone shut, making the ringing stop. "So that'll be—hmm? Sakura?" Sasuke called when he noticed her writing on the pad very fast. The girl finished and held it up to him. The young man frowned and looked at the pad. "Who sang that?" he read to himself. Blinking, he looked at Sakura. She didn't look like the type to listen to this kind of music. So when he told her, he sounded very hesitant. "I sang it."

He watched as her pale green eyes widen. Sakura bent down and wrote again. _"You have a very beautiful voice, Sasuke-san," _she wrote with complete honesty that it made Sasuke blink for a bit with a tiny blush. But he turned away as if she can really see it.

Having sense his evasion, Sakura scooted forward until she was sure she was close enough. Sasuke was still too preoccupied to notice how close she was. Sakura being blind didn't notice either. So when her small hands were on his face and made him turn to face her, Sasuke came a lot closer than he had thought. He felt his face heat up even more, making the girl tilt her head at the sudden warmness on his face. He could see the curiosity in her blind eyes. And even though, they looked dull, Sasuke could still see the shine in them. She looked too innocent for a person who got into a gang.

It was then that Sasuke saw that she was waiting for his answer. He smirked to himself and shook his head while her hands remained on his face. "It's nothing. I was just…embarrassed a bit," he answered.

Sakura nodded, understanding his feeling. She didn't like when people complimented her. It felt too weird when others did. She knew she had talent, but she didn't think it was that good. Of course, the others proved her wrong many times.

An awkward silence came and Sasuke just sat there, still with her hands on his cheeks. Finally when one of her hands dropped, Sasuke thought he could leave until her right hand was now hovering like a feather in front of his face. Slowly, she moved her hand down. The feeling that overcame him was foreign. As her hand ran gently down his eyelids, his nose and over his lips, he felt so at peace when she did so. He felt so much at ease than he ever had before. Her gentleness reminded him of his mother, but in a different way. She gave him a different emotion he never felt before; and it was kind of nice for once, not having to feel angry.

Then it was over. Sasuke opened his eyes, not realizing that he had shut them and looked at the girl in front of him. Her eyes seemed to smile when her lips didn't and that suited him fine. He liked reading her eyes better.

"What was that?" he asked softly, since it was the first time anyone has done that to him.

Sakura took the pad from behind her and wrote her explanation and showed it to Sasuke. _"It's my way of comforting others, more likely family, and how I show affection to those I care for," _she explained with a gentleness in her eyes.

"Well, that's an odd way of showing it," Sasuke remarked as he took her hand so that she could follow him downstairs to the kitchen. "You hungry?"

She nodded curtly and sat on one of the bar stools as Sasuke took out a jar of mayonnaise, tomatoes, lettuce, a bag of sliced turkey, and mustard. Then turning to the pantry to the right, he grabbed a bag of sandwiches. Just as he was going to open the bag, one of his maids came in.

"Would you like me to make you and your guest sandwiches, sir?" she asked politely, glancing at the quiet young lady. Immediately, she recognized her as the prodigious young composer. "You must be Miss Haruno Sakura! I have so many of your CDs! My children—"

As the woman ranted on, completely ignoring what she was supposed to do, Sasuke noticed Sakura's discomfort and told his maid to stop. "You may go home now, Morinaga-san. Sakura needs to eat now," he said with sternness in his voice.

Morinaga blinked and looked at Sakura who had her head lowered. "Ah, gomene, Haruno-san," she apologized and left the kitchen as Sasuke strolled over with two plates of two finished sandwiches on each.

"Here, you need to eat," he emphasized the word 'eat' as the girl frowned. Sighing, Sakura took up her first sandwich and took a small bite. For a good fifteen minutes, none of them talk, but ate quietly. Finally, Sakura ate the last of her sandwich and gave a content sigh. Sasuke, too, push his dish forward and looked at the girl, giving a smirk when she had a small smile on her face. "Let's get to bed, hmm?" he suggested and Sakura nodded as Sasuke guided her to his room. "If you need anything, I'll be in the room across from you alright?" the young man was about to turn and leave until Sakura tugged on his shirt. "Nani?"

The young woman looked like she wanted to say something, but then shook her head and gave a hand gesture, indicating that she forgot. The boy looked unsure, but just bid her goodnight and closed the door behind him.

-_Smile-_

It was a bit past one now, but Sasuke still couldn't sleep as he listened to the wind blow harshly against the estate. Turning on his right, facing the wall, Sasuke wondered how Sakura was taking it right now. Was she able to sleep without someone next to her? Before he could ponder more on the thought, however, Sasuke heard a light knock on the door and turned around. His door opened softly as quiet steps entered the room. The young man blinked when he saw Sakura coming in with one of his shirts on her. Well…it's not that he didn't think it didn't look good on her, it's just he never had any girls where his clothes before. And seeing her tonight made a big impression on him.

Sasuke sat up. "Daijoubu?" he asked quietly as the girl stood in front of him. Really, she looked really nice in his dark navy button-up. The dark color contrasting to her pale skin was really nice. He could see that she was trying to apologize for the intrusion and for his shirt, but he just shook it off. Then Sasuke grabbed her hand, startling the young lady. "Come on; I know you don't like being alone, so sleep here," Sasuke said as he helped Sakura into the bed beside him.

When they were finally comfortable, Sakura was as close as she allowed herself to be next to Sasuke which was just lying next to him, but not touching him. She won't let herself intrude anymore than she already has. She sighed a bit. But communicating was a bit difficult right now. There has to be a way for her to communicate without having to use paper and pen. She should ask Tsunade tomorrow when she went into for another check-up. For now, she'll just let herself drift into a deep sleep, hopefully without waking up in the middle of the night thrashing around again.

-_Lovely-_

_8__th__ of January…Saturday…7: 30 am…_

It was now early in the morning as Sasuke's eyes began to reveal themselves to the light. He hadn't gotten very much sleep, considering Sakura had suddenly woken up with a start. He was worried when he saw that terrified look in her eyes. When he asked her if she was alright, all she did was grasp his hand tightly as if she would taken away from him if she didn't. All in all, he was tired as hell and just wanted to go back to sleep…if he could anyways. Upon waking up, he had also woke Sakura up as well. But since she tends to be a person who can't sleep until she's comfortable, Sakura found that her peaceful sleep after the nightmare was on top of Sasuke. The poor guy just couldn't say or do anything. The young woman started to move slowly up, not even knowing what she was doing to poor Sasuke. She sat on him with drowsy eyes as her hair was a messy array of waviness, yet it gave her a seductive air. His button-up shirt managed to undo two buttons when she was moving last night, causing it to slip to the left side, revealing her shoulder. But as his gaze landed on her shoulder, he noticed a funny looking mark and was going to look at it closer until Sakura just suddenly threw herself back down, snuggling her face into the crook of his neck and hugged him like he was a giant teddy bear.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but seeing as how tired she looks, he decided to let her sleep in. They didn't have to worry anyways. It is Saturday after all. Though, that was easier said than done. It seems like Sakura talks in her sleep since her lips keep on brushing against his neck, sending involuntary shivers down his spine. Sasuke sighed as he pulled the blanket up to cover herself as well as himself. And since she was asleep, he allowed himself to embrace her, enjoying her warm and the scent of her hair. It was weird; there wasn't a certain kind a smell that he could depict easily. It just seemed clear—like water. That's what she reminded him of. Water. So pure, yet so deceiving at the same time. Sasuke smirked to himself at the same time Sakura tightened her grip on him. Finally as sleep began to take over him once again, he thought to himself that this morning wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**_Well, there you have it, Chapter IV. It wasn't much and wasn't as long as the previous three chapters, forgive me. I just had to get this part out of the way before I get onto the most serious of parts. And as you can see, Sasuke is just acting like any other young man his age. He's being polite, yet, can't help but feel so dirty at the same time. And what Sakura did, you all may have asked yourself this, but yes, it can happen. How do I know this? Because I did this once and my friend told me when we woke up. So yes, like I said before, Sakura is taking some part of my personality in her. _**

**_News: For anyone who hasn't heard the news of "Forget-Me-Not" but you still read it, it is now complete, however, Part II will begin as soon as I get started on it. I'll get a synopsis of it on my profile quickly so that you can see what I'll have in mind for Part II of the Memoirs Trilogy. That's if for "Forget-Me-Not." For those, who have read my other fic and are still waiting, please forgive me, but I'm truly having a difficult time trying to get the story moving. So please bear with me until I finally get those updated. Thanks._**

**_That's the end for the news. As for questions and other concerns, feel free to pm me or put it in the review and I'll respond to either when I can. Again, I want to thank those who reviewed (you know who you are) and those who took the time to read this and putting me on the favorites and alerts. Thanks again. Hopefully, when I update again, it wouldn't take so long. Ja!_**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_Winter's Holly_**


	5. Chapter V: Observation

_**Hmm...wow, what can I say? I'm really proud for those of you who actually reviewed! LOL! There were 20 reviews for chapter IV! I'm so happy! No, really I am! I just love reviews! I mean they seriously make me update faster, if you haven't noticed! Anyways, this chapter is better and a bit longer than last chapter! So I hope you enjoy it! Especially those who were so impatient for it to come! You know who I'm talking to!**_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance (awesome band!) You druggies should know that by now! Stay out of trouble! That's right! I'm talking to YOU!_**

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Chapter V: Observation 

_By: Winter's Holly_

"_Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking__."_

_Johann Wolfgang von Goethe _

_8__th__ of January…Saturday…10: 12 am…Hospital…_

Sakura sat quietly on the brown hard bed as the sanitizing paper she sat on crinkled with each movement she made. Sasuke, on the other hand, was leaning against the window, silently staring as the sun finally made his appearance over the mountains. His eyes were closed, savoring the warmth of the shining rays. The young man felt calm more so today than he had in weeks. Besides the sun, he had the young woman's presence as well to sooth him. This morning as the two were getting ready to go to the hospital, she was cooperating with him very well. She didn't argue or complain, not that she can, but either way she worked him patiently. At first, though, he thought he was going to regret bringing her in, despite her being more independent. He thought it was going to be a lot of work, but it seems like every time he had tried to help her today, only made her glare, so he backed off.

Opening his eyes, Sasuke glanced at Sakura, seeing that she was sitting tall and like a statue. His lips turned into a small frown as his dark brows met slightly. _'Why is she sitting so proper?' _he thought, walking to her while pulling the chair that sat against the wall. When he was now situated in front of the blind girl, he narrowed his eyes more upon seeing her expression.

"Why are you always so indifferent?" Sasuke asked out of curiosity. Never once had he seen a smile on her face. It was either a glare or nothing at all. "Don't you smile?"

As if she was awaken, Sakura blinked slowly and only moved her glazed green eyes downward. Her eyes sent shivers down his spine. They were so lifeless and cold that it was too eerie to look at. Then she shook her head slightly to his question.

"Nande?" he asked instead, gradually getting irritated by her lack of answers.

Sakura kept her posture while giving a shrug, shifting her gaze ahead.

The young Uchiha sighed and leaned back in his chair with narrowed onyx eyes. Apparently, she wasn't in the mood to talk like she was yesterday. Well, she didn't even try to initiate a conversation at all. It was quiet throughout breakfast and the ride here. Maybe being mute isn't a problem for her if she wasn't a talker before. His gaze narrowed more when his thoughts moved to his best friend. He couldn't believe that this creepy girl is related to that troublesome idiot. They had nothing in common at all, besides the parents anyways. To Sasuke, Sakura reminded him very much of someone he knows. _'Tch…who is it? Who does she remind me of?' _Glancing back, Sasuke looked over her posture and expression. It was so cold and collected. Then it finally clicked. The light in his head turned on as his obsidian eyes grew wide slightly in realization. _'She's just like Itachi!' _he thought with disbelief at first. But comparing the way Naruto acts to the time he acted as a child with Sakura's treatment and his brother's, they were exactly alike. Both he and Naruto are younger brothers while Sakura and Itachi are older. When Sasuke was younger, he was pretty sure that he was a nuisance to Itachi just like Naruto, who still is. Thinking back several days when he met Sakura and watched how the young girl treated his best friend, Sasuke had no doubt in his mind that her personality is _exactly _like his brother's. The young man twitched at this revelation and at the thought of those two meeting. _'They either get along lovely or glare each other to death.'_

He groaned out loud at the image he pictured in his head while Sakura, who heard this, tilted her head slightly in curiosity. Opening the pad to a new page, she wrote her question on it before reaching out slowly to find Sasuke. But since he was sitting in a rather short chair, her small hand came in contact with his hair which immediately caught his attention.

"Nani?" he shot out, blinking rapidly.

Sakura held up the pad and waited. _"What's wrong? Are you feeling well, Sasuke-san?"_

When Sasuke was done reading, he sighed and leaned back into his chair again. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, glimpsing at the girl. "I was just thinking about some things."

She nodded in understanding and didn't want to intrude, so place the pad back on her lap.

Again, silence reigned upon the pair as the clock on the wall seemed to tick louder than it did several minutes ago. The Uchiha looked at the door with an impatient glare. _'Where the hell's the doctor?'_

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal Tsunade with another woman. They seemed to be in deep conversation since they haven't noticed Sasuke, yet. When a few minutes pass, Tsunade finally looked up to Sakura. "Sakura, how have you been doing?" she asked, taking her stethoscope out to listen to her heartbeat. "Hmm, your heartbeat is regular. Now I need you to take off your clothes to check on your injuries."

Hearing this, Sasuke quickly introduced himself, noticing that Sakura was getting ready to take her shirt without a care. "Aa, Uchiha Sasuke," he greeted with a bow.

"You were standing there the whole time?" the doctor asked innocently which caused the young man to twitch incredulously.

"Yes, I have," he stated deadpanned.

Tsunade turned to the woman to her left. The assistant had dark hair with brown eyes and looked uneasy when she saw Sakura. "Shizune, did you notice him?"

Shizune sighed and nodded. "I told you he was here, but you didn't hear me," she replied with tiredness.

"Oh," the blonde responded with a shrug and looked at Sasuke. "Is Sakura living with you then?" He nodded. "Has she taken her medicine before she came?"

"Yes, she has, but may I speak with you first, Doctor…?"

"Tsunade."

Sasuke nodded and glanced at Sakura, which Tsunade noticed since she walked over to him quietly. "Can you see her weight as well?" The doctor frowned. "When I carried her, it felt like she weighed less than one hundred pounds."

Tsunade straightened up with a composed expression as she observed her patient. Now that she actually looked at her, Sakura really did seem thin. "Thank you, Uchiha-san. I'll take a look at that. Now can you please wait outside?"

Sasuke nodded. As he closed the door, he glanced at the girl with narrowed eyes. Once the door was closed, Tsunade turned around to Sakura who sat like a statue. "I'm going to look at your eyes again, Sakura," Tsunade warned as she took her light pen and shined it into her eyes. There were no reactions. She waited for a few more seconds, but unlike the last checkup, Sakura's eyes didn't react at all until a minute later. A frown made its way on the woman's face as she observed Sakura unchanging one.

_'This isn't good. She's losing her eyesight slowly.' _Straightening herself, Tsunade put her pen in her pocket and turned to Shizune. "Can you weigh her please while I take down some notes?" she asked taking the clipboard at the end of the bed.

The assistant nodded and went up to the girl. "May I call you Sakura-chan?" she asked politely and received a nod. "Alright, I need you to remove your clothing so that the scale will read correctly."

Doing as she asked, Sakura pushed herself off the bed and slowly stripped herself into her under garments. While she did so, both Shizune and Tsunade's eyes widen in shock upon seeing the young woman's body. She was so thin! Her bones were nearly visible, but at least she had enough meat on her that it concealed most of her bones. Taking her freezing hand (which made Shizune shiver) she led Sakura to the scale. After pushing the measurements to and fro, she finally landed on the right number when it balanced.

"Tsunade-sama, look," Shizune called quietly, noticing Sakura lowered her head a bit.

"What is it?" the doctor questioned when she was beside the two. She looked at the scale and narrowed her eyes. "You're only ninety pounds, Sakura? Are you anorexic?" she demanded with alarm.

Sakura shook her head no. Tsunade seemed really unconvinced with this.

"Sakura, you're ninety pounds. Tell me that's not the cause of anorexia. There's no other explanation for it," she argued. "Do your parents know about this?"

Again, Sakura shook her head and sighed. Stepping off the scale, Sakura was led by Tsunade to the bed where she grabbed her clothes and began to dress. But when her long hair moved, Tsunade noticed something on the base of her left shoulder. "Stop moving for a minute," she ordered and looked at the marking closer. There were three tomoe on her shoulder in a spinning action. Alarmed, she turned Sakura around when there was another tattoo on her chest. It was the kanji of fire. "Sakura, where did you get these tattoos?"

Not wanting to talk about it, Sakura just pulled her shirt back on with a frown. Sensing her uncertainty, the woman sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Fine, but you will tell me where you got those tattoos. Maybe that'll tell me more of your muteness as well." The girl froze instantly with stiffness. Shizune noticed this and was about to say something, but Tsunade raised her hand, stopping her. The blonde moved until she was in front of Sakura and put her hand on the girl's throat. She pushed slightly, getting no reaction. "This doesn't hurt?" Tsunade asked as Sakura gave her a no.

-

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Sasuke heard everything they just said with a frown on his handsome face. A nurse passed by him with a blush, realizing who he is. Of course, Sasuke ignored this and decided to go outside the hospital and think. Leaning on the wall next to the automatic doors, he pulled his jacket tighter while taking out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. After he lit his cigarette, Sasuke inhaled it for several seconds before exhaling, the wispy white smoke floated softly into the frigid air. Gazing at the sky, he saw that the clouds were moving in again.

_'So…when she was in Yuki, Sakura had already been mute when I first met her. That explains why she was so quiet,' _Sasuke thought through while taking another drag. Exhaling it through his pink lips, the young man closed his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. _'But when did she lose her voice is the problem. It could have been any time during her absence when she lost it. Maybe her manager might know something about it.' _

_They all said _

_Teenagers scare the living shit out of me!_

_They could care less as long as someone'll bleed!_

_So—_

His phone rang as he lazily pulled it out of his pocket. "Uchiha," he greeted monotone.

"Ah, Uchiha-san, my name is—"

Sasuke blinked and said, "No."

"Demo—"

"No!"

The person wouldn't stop! It was irritating. Sasuke didn't know how they did it, but the media always somehow getting his new phone number.

The person, who sounded like an older man, sighed. "I'm your new manager, damn it!" he screamed.

Right then, Sasuke stood correctly and was more attentive at the 'announcement.' "What? How did that happen? What happened to—?"

"Finally," the man mumbled which Sasuke heard and twitched at. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. I'm going to take over as your new manager. Why? Because they transferred him, geez. We're good now?"

Sasuke blinked at the new predicament. "Yeah. Wait…aren't you Namikaze's friend?" he asked, recognizing the name.

Kakashi answered, "That's right. We went to the same college. Now I wanted you to know that you'll be having a concert on Tuesday."

"Why Tuesday? Isn't that kind of random, don't you think?" the young man questioned.

"Yes, but it's a request. One of the celebrities is throwing a party and wants your band to be the one playing with Haruno-san," Kakashi explained plainly.

"Nani? Haruno desuka?" Sasuke was surprised as he threw down his cigarette, grinded it into the snow. "So who is hosting this party?"

Papers were heard being moved until Kakashi could find the right one. "She is also a friend of the Namikaze, Fujikaze Yukie, a.k.a. Kazahana Koyuki-hime. She is a really good friend of Miss Haruno; she helped get her into Kazahana Institute."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes upon hearing Kazahana. _'Maybe Kakashi could find something on Sakura for me.'_

"Oi, Kakashi, I need you to do something for me," Sasuke said quietly as the man on the other line mumbled a 'sure.' "Find any information you can on Sakura."

"Sakura? Do you know her personally?" Kakashi asked innocently.

The young man sighed. "Yes; do you know Tsunade as well?"

"Yeah, I do. Hmm, it seems to me like old friends are meeting each other at the same time again," the man murmured to himself.

The automatic doors opened to reveal Tsunade leading the blind Sakura out with Shizune trailing behind. The doctor saw him and he waved a hand to show that he was coming. "Hey, I have to go now. Let me know when you get anything," he told Kakashi before hanging up and walking towards the three women. "How did it go?"

As an answer Tsunade went up beside him and pulled him to the side. "She only weighs ninety pounds, Sasuke. I need you to get her to eat more, but injuries are healing just fine," she told him, glancing at Sakura who was talking with Shizune. "I also put her in a sign language class so she communicate with others until the surgery."

"Surgery?" he asked, looking at the older woman.

Tsunade nodded, putting her right hand underneath her chin. "Yes. Her operation will take place when you have spring break. That way, knowing the schedules you two have, you guys won't miss school," she replied and gazed at the Uchiha beside her. Sasuke, in turn, gave her an impassive expression. "Did you know if she was in some sort of gang?"

He frowned at the sudden question and looked at Sakura. "Naruto informed me of it, but we don't know if she's been in one since she left," he answered stoically.

"Sou ka," the blonde murmured. "Alright then. You two should get going now. You two are going to need to practice, considering you're both performing at the same place."

"You know about that?"

The doctor waved her hand in the air lazily as her good mood started to return. "Yeah, Kakashi told me. Oh Sasuke, go learn sign language, too," Tsunade advised before reminding Sakura to take her medicine. With that she left Sakura in Sasuke's care once more.

It was quiet and cold and dark again, Sasuke noticed when he was beside the young woman who seemed to notice it as well. "We should go now, Sakura," said Sasuke softly as he took her arm. But he didn't go very far when she suddenly yanked on his shirt. He turned around with furrowed brows. "Nani, Sakura?"

She went up to him and smelled his shirt. Her eyes were narrowed when she backed up. Seeing this, Sasuke knew what she was going to say and knew that Naruto wouldn't like it either.

"I know, I know," he interjected with a bored expression as they resumed their walk to the parking lot. "I've got to stop smoking. It's bad for my health."

Once they got into the car, Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot and began driving towards the Namikaze Estate. The ride there wasn't too long since the mansion just in the richer district in the hills. Of course, no conversation passed in the car, considering it would require Sasuke to look at what the girl was trying to say. As his drove his car into the driveway, the door opened to reveal a hyper Naruto running to the car only to slip and fall due to the ice. Sasuke twitched, hearing Naruto scream loudly and glanced at Sakura. She shook her head, throwing her face into her hand. Sasuke, too, shook his head before getting out of the car.

"Hey, Sasuke-teme!" the blonde yelled loudly where as Sasuke gave him a curt nod.

He opened the door to Sakura's side, taking her hand as she gripped his and carefully got out. "There's ice, so be careful," he muttered to her, taking her waist to guide her. "Oi, where are your parents?"

"Tousan's at another meeting at the council and Kaasan's with him," answered with a tilted head. "Nande?"

"We have a concert on Tuesday along with your sister," Sasuke replied as they entered the large house. "I'm sure your dad bought her a new violin, so I came to get. We could go to my house, if you want to practice."

Naruto nodded and went to get his cell phone. "Oh and the violin's in foyer by the garden," he called before disappearing.

Sasuke then led Sakura to the foyer which was larger than most of the rooms in the mansion. It was where parties were held with the grand piano in the center of the room. On the bench was the violin case and Sasuke opened it to see a brand new violin. The wood was shiny and smooth as the wires were tight and thicker than her old one. She took it out of the case, feeling its every texture. Even though Sakura didn't show it, she was very happy. She grabbed Sasuke's hand and squeezed it, suppressing a bit of happiness that leaked.

"Come on," Sasuke urged while Sakura put her new violin in carefully and closed it. When they were in the front again, Naruto brought down his guitar and got his keys. "Well?"

"Yeah, they're going to meet at your house, so let's get going," Naruto told him while locking the door behind him.

Sasuke nodded. "See you there."

-_Scene 2_-

_5: 36 pm…Uchiha Estate…_

"Alright, that's it for tonight, guys," Sasuke said into the microphone, taking off his guitar. Turning to the guys, he asked, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Naruto grinned in happiness and jumped down from the platform on his knees, begging Sasuke with sparkling eyes. "Can we?" he practically drooled on the carpet as he asked this.

Neji shook his head in shame, walking past the two and out the door. "What an idiot," he muttered.

Chouji, on the other hand, quickly ran out as soon as Sasuke said dinner. "Woohoo! Free food! WOOOT!"

Shikamaru went up beside the stoic Uchiha with a look of boredom. "We'll stay, thanks," he mumbled, while twitching his eyes at the blonde and then turned to Sasuke. "Come on. Let's see what Sakura's doing."

Sasuke nodded as all three descended the stairs to hear crashing and glass breaking. Alarmed, Sasuke was the first one to get there to see Sakura running out again. "Sakura!" he screamed as he ran after her. He saw her at his gate hesitating until she jumped over it and ran in the direction of the woods. _'Shit! I won't be able to find her if she keeps going!' _he thought with panic, also jumping over the gate. He sped up at that instant when Sakura ran into the woods blindly. He could hear the others behind him, catching up. He glanced back to see Neji and Naruto the closest to him.

"We'll split up to find her! Those woods aren't safe for her!" he ordered before disappearing in the trees. The snow was deeper here and the natural light from the sky didn't help much at all, considering how thick it is here. It was eerily quiet except for the panting that Sasuke made as he traveled in the snow. It baffled him how a girl can move so quick even when she's blind. As he searched, on the other sides he could hear his friends yelling her name through the branches. With each passing minute, the sky grew darker and so did his angry. His pace slowed and so did his energy, a natural thing that winter did, as he fell in the snow face first. It was even colder when it came in contact with his skin. Such beautiful and pure snow can be so cold and harsh, he thought with bitterness, glaring at the single grain that he was able to see. Closing his eyes, Sasuke ignored the cold darkness around him. His ears focused on the peaceful silence and the tiny sound of the wind chiming in the air. The movement of his lungs was even and slow, a soothing sound to a person who can't be alone. His hand moved slowly to his right pocket where he kept his cigarette and lighter and took it out. Keeping his eyes closed, his opened his pack of cigarettes, tapping one out. Afterwards, he flicked at his lighter until he felt the heat of the small flame and brought it to his lips where the stick sat. Dropping his hand to the ground, Sasuke laid there silently, blending himself with the natural world. His senses were slowly being relaxed as the sounds of yelling became muffled. He inhaled again, watching the smoke float to the air again like he did earlier that day. It was as if his mind was being taken elsewhere, where his mind can be at ease.

_Crunch!_

_Crunch!_

_Crunch!_

Sasuke heard the crunching of the snow, but paid no heed to it while gradually surrendered his body and mind to the cold and blackness. Something had dropped beside him on his left and stayed quiet for a long time making him open his eyes again. Stiffly, the young man turned his head to see instead of the trees, he saw a black mass. Obsidian orbs traveled up more to find out that they were folded legs. Over that, he saw a mass of clothes until he landed on dull greens. He frowned upon seeing such greenness in the middle of a black forest and closed his eyes again, scoffing. He brought his cigarette to his lips once more, only to have it taken from him. His eyes snapped opened to see his cigarette being grinded into the snow. A hissing sound was thing only thing heard as he glared at the hand that did it.

"What the hell?" he demanded sitting up, now more alert. A frown instant took up his anger when he saw that sitting beside him was the person he was looking for. There was a cut on her cheek he noticed and immediately, without thought, Sasuke put his hand softly on her face. "Are you okay?"

She wasn't sure whether he was referring to the situation at hand or what happened earlier, but she nodded. Unconsciously, Sakura leaned into the warmth of his hand and closed her eyes. It was comforting to have someone care for her besides her family.

Sasuke sat quietly, watching her and her actions. It seems like when she was around others, the young woman was very cold and collected…like this brother. _'Unfortunately.' _But whenever she was just with him, her hard expressions softened into what a girl is supposed to look like. To him, she was much more fragile than she seems. To him, she looked…lonely.

Sighing, Sasuke took Sakura in his arms, surprising her. "The others are waiting," he explained as she relaxed, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck while leaning her face in the crook of his neck. As they walked back to the mansion, Sasuke glanced down at the girl before going back to the tracks he made. "Did you run out because you were angry again?"

She buried her face more into his neck as an answer.

"Sakura, do I need to send you into an anger management class as well?" he asked exasperatedly until he felt a pinch on his neck. "Itai!" he cried as she glared at him. "What, I was kidding!"

She turned her face away with a pout. This, in turn, made Sasuke chuckle a bit since she reminded him of Naruto. "It looks like you and your brother actually have something in common," he commented, earning a question look. "Well, when you get made fun of, you pout and turn away just like Naruto. I guess he takes it after you, huh?" Sakura shrugged nonchalantly, returning her place on his shoulder. "Are you excited for the surgery?" Again, she shrugged, but moved again so that she can run her hand down his face again. This made the young man stop dead in his tracks. His expression was of confusion as he tried to figure out this girl. She was too much of a mystery for him. It irritated him to no end, but it can't be helped. That's how life works.

_6: 30 pm…_

Shinobi were all gathered in his living room as he sat on the couch with Sakura beside him. The both of them had bored expressions on their faces, trying to ignore Naruto's annoying ramblings. Chouji, who sat next to Sakura, rolled his eyes and took one of the pillows and threw it at the blonde.

"Just shut up already, geez," the big man groaned in aggravation. "You sound like a nagging mother. Dude, she's your _older _sister, hence why she can take care of herself."

Naruto huffed, not willing to give up. At the same time he opened his mouth to start again, another pillow was thrown at him, this time by Shikamaru. "Didn't you hear Chouji, stupid? _Shut up!_"

Now, his blue eyes were twitching as he tried again to speak. His third warning was the remote to the head by Neji who was trying to watch the news. "Do you know when to stop, dumbass?" he asked casually as if it was nothing. "We get the point. We don't need you burning it into our brains, goddamn."

"Well, apparently you do! Especially you, Onee-sama and Teme!" the Uzumaki pointed accusingly to Sasuke who sat up straight when his name was called.

"Why, you freak!" he yelled back.

"Because I can smell the smoke on you and Neechan! Didn't you go to an anger management class!" he assumed with an incredulous expression.

Sakura just sat, rubbing her pinky in her ear as if her little brother made her go deaf. Well, he did due to his loud, booming voice. Blinking, she tilted her head and placed her hand by her ear. After that, she gave an innocent shrug, indicating she didn't hear him.

Seeing those gestures, the guys laughed as his sister gave a smirk.

"I'm being serious, Sakura-nee!" Naruto frowned and yanked on his hair out of frustration. "You guys are bastards," he muttered, crossing his arms and pouted.

Sasuke noticed this and said to Sakura, "I told you. Your brother is making the same gesture."

The young woman tilted her head, blinking innocently. She wrote on the pad. _"Really?"_

"Yeah, he has his pout and everything," Sasuke said persuasively.

Sakura only rolled her eyes and wrote back, _"Figures. He's still so much like a child."_

As this conversation went on, they didn't notice that they were being watched by the rest of Shinobi. Everyone looked at each other with wide eyes, not believing them. Chouji was the first one to speak, though in a very small whisper.

"Minna, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Neji twitched. "I think I'm going blind now."

Shikamaru shook his head and smiled at the two. "It's not so bad, is it? Sasuke and Naruto's cold-hearted sister? Who knows?"

By then, the pair had stopped conversing as Sasuke looked at his friends with a curious lifted brow where as Sakura sat unmoving. The Uchiha saw his best friend fuming in the recliner next to him.

"Nandesuka?" he asked flatly.

The Uzumaki looked like he had some difficulties in speaking what he wanted to say. "Omae…you're not…Nah!" he started to argue with himself with hand gestures here and there, as the others watched him with skepticism.

Sakura, being the elder sister, knew what he was thinking, sat up, and went over to his side since she could hear where he sat. Placing her hand on his head, she made him look up at her as she closed her eyes and shook her head. _"Nothing is going on" _is what she tried to tell him.

"Demo, Onee—"

She shook her head again firmly this time to get him to stop.

The blonde sighed and let the subject dropped. "Fine," he mumbled and looked at Sasuke. "You got any ramen? I'm hungry."

"Mata?!" Neji said incredulously.

"What?! I'm hungry, alright? Geez!" Naruto exclaimed with a glare. Turning back to Sasuke, he demanded, "Well?"

Sasuke sighed and nodded his head. "It's in the pantry."

However, right when Naruto was about to bounce off to the kitchen, Sakura stopped him with her hand. She shook her head no and headed to the kitchen herself. Sasuke stood up and followed the girl.

"Sakura, what are you doing?" he asked also inwardly amazed that she walk without bumping into anything. "Are you going to cook?"

She nodded, heading towards the fridge.

"But…how are you going to do that?" he asked, baffled for once.

She turned around with a smirk on her face which Sasuke translated as bad.

He dropped his head. "You're making me help you, aren't you?"

Again, she nodded and began taking out the pan when she placed the vegetables on the counter. Sasuke sighed. "Fine."

In the background, the boys are just looking at each other, not being able that Sasuke was actually getting along with someone and a girl no less. And as the pair were in the kitchen cooking, the guys just sat in the kitchen, enjoying the show for the night.

* * *

**So? What do you think? Is it better? Do you like it? I seriously love it because of the efforts I put into the details! WOO! **

**Anyways, please review. I mean I seriously love reviews because I love to answer questions for those of you who are too shy to! LOL! That's why I get on people's cases on them, besides needing feedback! I love to answer questions people give me. Hmm, I sound like a teacher for some reason. Oh well! Just give me a review and I'll answer question or concerns! Seriously, just give me your opinion, thoughts, ANYTHING! LOL! **

Okay! I'll stop!

Sincerely,

Winter's Holly!


	6. Chapter VI: Siren

Hisashiburi, minna-san! Anyways, this is a damn long chapter, so I hope you enjoy it! Oh! For the song that Sasuke sings, can someone please let me know if you find the translation! That would be totally awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the song "Selfish" by Tourbillon or "Sakura Uta" by Takanashi Yasuharu, but I do own the plot! Sorry for the grammar errors! I was to lazy to edit! But I will as soon as I get the translations to "Selfish!"

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* * *

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Chapter VI: Siren

_By: Winter's Holly_

"_No siren did ever so charm the ear of the listener as the listening ear has charmed the soul of the siren__." Henry Taylor_

_10__th__ of January…Monday…P.E….11: 30 am…_

"Yah!" Tenten cried as she dodged a kick that the blind girl threw at her. She did a back flip and landed gracefully on the mat. Today since their teacher, Anko Mitarashi, was not here, the substitute told to them do their exercises and afterwards, do what they want. Of course, doing the laps was a little bit difficult for Sakura since she was blind, so she ran alongside with Tenten who told her when a turn was coming up or if a person was closely in front of her. Sakura had to admit she liked Tenten. She was very sporty just like her.

Still standing on her left leg, balancing perfectly with her right now bent towards her body, Sakura motioned for Tenten to come at her again with her finger as she kept cool. Of course, she was dripping with perspiration as well, but she breathe slowly where as she can hear Tenten panting rather jaggedly. Sakura tilted her head in question, which Tenten understood.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm just tired from the lack of sleep, that's all. Nothing to worry about—come on! Let's finish this match before the bell rings."

Sakura nodded and waited as Tenten charged her with her right arm back to throw a punch. Uncannily, Sakura, now that she was blind, her other sense heightened as she ducked down and swiped her right leg back, knocking the tomboy over. The brunette immediately rolled to her left for the oncoming leg that was coming straight down. She jumped back to glared at Sakura who had her ear in a certain angle to listen carefully for any movement. As Tenten circled Sakura, the blind young woman followed. This made the tomboy scowl in frustration a bit as she searched for Sakura's weak point.

As if sensing her frustration, Sakura gave a cold smirk, taunting her. For Sakura, she loves to fight. It didn't matter whether it was relevant or not; she'll always somehow be involved (also one of the causes why the headmaster of Kazahana Institute called her to his office). Right as the girl was going to make her move on Tenten, the bell rang, indicating that it was time to get dressed by in their uniforms.

Tenten sighed in disappoint, watching Sakura come her way easily. Putting on a grin, she threw her arm over Sakura's shoulder. "Damn! And here I thought I got you this time," she said so casually. "Anyways, I heard you and the guys have a concert tomorrow at the hotel where Fujikaze's staying."

When they entered, Sakura gave Tenten a nod as she waited for her to get her clothes from the locker. Tenten had a larger locker since she played soccer and asked her coach to let Sakura have a big locker, too, for all of the stuff that she carried. After handing Sakura her uniform, Tenten began to dress as well.

"So are you going to eat with us, Sakura?" she asked.

The said girl stopped in the middle of buttoning her blouse, thinking about it. Every since she began school, Sakura had always eaten alone. She never did like to socialize. In addition, whenever someone asks her to join, she just shook her head and leave. Nevertheless, now that she was back in Konoha, it probably wouldn't hurt to join her little brother's friends. When she finished dressing, she waited for Tenten was just barely closing her locker.

"So? You coming?" Tenten didn't even wear the uniform as Sakura did, proper. Her version of the girls' uniform was like the way Sasuke and Naruto wore them. The blouse wasn't tucked in and the silver tie was loose while her blazer was wrapped around her waist and the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Instead of the heels and nylons that the proper girls wear, she wore her army boots with black socks. However, for Sakura, she wore the uniform the way the dress code arranged it, but her skirt was altered so that it reached her knees instead of being mid-thigh length.

Sakura gave a curt nod, at the same time tapping her stick in front of her with her left hand on Tenten's arm.

Chocolate eyes widen as the brunette stabbed her fist in the air. "Alright! Naruto's going to be so happy! You'll even meet the rest of the group!" she exclaimed with so much exhilaration that Sakura blinked in shock.

_'She's so energetic,'_ she sighed, twitching as Tenten reminded her of her brother. _'Hopefully, he won't exhaust me too much or I'll leave.'_

So as the pair entered the large cafeteria filled variety of foods, they were instantly attacked by fans…Sakura's fans.

"Sakura-san! I love your music!"

"Can I have your autograph?!"

"Go out with me!"

At this, the two paused in bewilderment. Several minutes of this passed, and the girls managed to push their way through and headed over to the lunch line. The taller girl looked at Sakura. "Are you going to eat?"

Sakura was about to shake her head 'no' until a deep voice interrupted her.

"Yes, she is going to eat," Sasuke answered for her, staring down at her. He rolled his eyes when Sakura turned away and pouted.

"Eto, doushita no?" Tenten questioned with uncertainty.

Sasuke shook his head and just replied lazily, "No, she's just too thin. So I'm forcing her to eat and she doesn't like it."

Instantaneously, the tomboy shook Sakura's shoulders with crazy eyes. "Uso! I was fighting you, too! Oh my god! I could've have squashed you!"

The stoic young man grabbed the frantic girl's collar and yanked her back. "Calm down, you psycho," he said rather bored. "She is eating, alright? Sheesh. What is Neji feeding you, anyway?"

"Oh! Where is Neji-kun?!" she immediately forgot about Sakura and began looking for her boyfriend. This extremely freaked Sakura out as she inched more towards Sasuke and clutched on his sleeve.

Sasuke looked down at Sakura and smirked as the line moved up. "What kind of food do you eat, Sakura?"

And here, she used her hands, but still struggled a little, trying to remember which signs were for which words. Sasuke, too, had trouble as well when they attended their first lesson in sign language at the clinic next to the hospital. The lesson was three hours long for each day unless one of them goes on tour; the teacher also follows to keep them caught up.

_"I just want a salad, Sasuke-san,"_ she finally managed to which Sasuke nodded at.

"Do you just want a bottle of water?"

She nodded as Sasuke got his lunch and led her to the table he sat at. "So what made you decide to eat with us now? Naruto bugging you?"

Sakura shook her head. _"No, I've always eaten alone, so I thought it'd be nice to have someone to be around," _she signed, but the corner of her lips twitched into a small smirk. _"I also want to _observe_ how Otoutou-kun acts."_

A dark brow was lifted. "Why? It's not like he does anything interesting," Sasuke replied, taking a bite of his sandwich.

The girl only shrugged, chewing her salad with small bites compared to Sasuke.

"Onee-sama!" Naruto called from across the cafeteria, making the pair sweatdrop.

Sakura's left eye twitched. _'So much for being inconspicuous. Thank you, Otoutou-kun.'_

"I told you, didn't I?" the young man muttered. "He's always loud and obnoxious."

Sadly, Sakura couldn't help, but agree with Sasuke and just continued to eat her lunch while getting to meet Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Rock Lee. The whole time, Sasuke was telling her what they looked like, in return, getting an incredulous frown.

She pulled out her notepad since she didn't remember the certain signs she needed to ask him, _"Are dogs allowed here, especially since it is a private school and all?" _

Shikamaru, having seen this, answered instead. "Well, the teachers tried to tell him to get Akamaru to stay home, but idiot wasn't going to listen anyways, so they allowed it."

Sakura nodded curtly before going back to her salad. She was in deep thought, thinking of the times she sat by herself. It was peaceful. Compared to this, her times in the music room was a lot better. She let out a small sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke as he watched her. _'I want to leave…I…I…shouldn't have came back. But…what if he comes looking for me after I leave? Will he…no, he wouldn't.' _Sakura sighed again and placed the fork down, and got up to leave. Everyone was stared at her, wondering where she was going. Only one person at the table knew and stopped Sasuke from going after her.

"My sister will be fine on her own, Sasuke," Naruto stated, watching his sister leave the cafeteria. Glancing back at Sasuke, he said, "When she's deep in her thoughts like this, she'd rather be alone."

The young Uchiha frowned, his eyes still gazing at the door. "I'm just going to make sure she's alright. I won't do anything else," Sasuke muttered and pulled his arm away, following Sakura.

Once Sasuke was out of the loud cafeteria, he began searching around for the pink-haired young woman. But…that was harder than it seems! How the hell did she get away so damn fast! Wasn't she supposed blind?! Sasuke groaned and decided to start outside first. Well…isn't that the first place one would go to have some peace? So that's where he went. Unfortunately, he looked all over and only got chased by the rabid fangirls. Once inside the building of Performing Arts, Sasuke panted, leaning all of his weight on the wall. When his breathing finally slowed, he gradually heard a sad melody playing from the music room and went to see; hoping that the girl he was searching for was there. Peeking into the window, Sakura was indeed in the room, hunching over the keys of the piano with her face in her small hands. The young man furrowed his brows as he noticed her hands beginning to clench tightly as well as her jaws. Sasuke watched the Haruno stand up as she took her music book and tossed it across the room in anger. He wanted to go in there and help her, but he wanted to see what she would do next. He thought she was going to run out again, but instead Sakura dropped to the ground on her knees with her head tilted back. Her expression was still the same yet some sadness leaked onto the surface that only he could have recognized because he had felt that way also. Like all of his hopes diminished in thin air.

Hearing Sakura sigh, Sasuke observed her getting up and sitting on the carpeted steps. Seeing her this dejected, the Uchiha simply couldn't bring himself to comfort her because he knew…he knew what she needed most was _not _comfort, but self-acceptance. And knowing that she needed to be alone, Sasuke left, giving her one last glance.

- _Listen _-

_11__th__ of January…Tuesday…5: 55 pm…Uchiha Estate…_

In his own room, Sasuke just wore a black tux with a white dress shirt that was accompanied by his silver silk tie and vest. It was a black and white ball, and this was perhaps the _only _tux he had since didn't like going to formal parties. Glancing at his watch, Sasuke then sighed and went into the guest room where Sakura was currently getting ready. Knocking her on door, he asked if she was ready. All he got was silence, of course, so he waited outside the door. After a few minutes, the doorknob opened slowly and the blind girl stepped out. Though, it was simple, the dress really suited her. It was white with criss-crossing ribbons that met in the center of her breasts and tied into a little bow with three little white rhinestones in the middle. The sleeves only covered her shoulders—being narrowed at the seam, broadening at as it ascended and descended, then narrowing again. The rest of the dress was white and at the end was two inches of lace, circling it. Her pink hair was curled and then put in a ponytail.

Hearing that it was too quiet, Sakura tilted her head and shook Sasuke's shoulders. _"Daijoubu desuka?" _she asked him.

The young man shook his head and nodded. But then he forgot that Sakura couldn't see, so said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go; the party starts at seven." With that being said, Sasuke took her hand, leading her slowly down the steps. After going in his car, the two were on their way to the hotel where it was being held. When they arrived, the driveway was completely packed with famous people who were invited. There were cops and bouncers at every entrance. Once Sasuke was done helping Sakura out of the car, he gave his car keys to the bellhop, and had no trouble getting through the media who was there for coverage. However, right when they got to the entrance, there was loud screaming that abrupt near them.

"Sasuke-sama! Sasuke-sama!" one girl screamed as Sasuke back away from the rope, scared he might get jumped.

"Is that…is that Sakura-san?!" another yelled and then this began to spread quickly.

One reporter went up to Sasuke as flashes were seen everywhere. "Uchiha-san, are you having a romantic relationship with one of the most famous composers, Haruno-san?"

Another pushed his way through asking, "How long have this been going on?"

Getting angry, Sasuke held Sakura in his arms so that she wouldn't get hurt as he navigated through. "Damn these people," he muttered. It took them about ten minutes to get past the revolving doors and into the grand lobby. Groaning, Sasuke swore under his breath at how irritating the media was and how he wished he was ordinary sometimes. Looking down at the girl, he suggested, "Why don't we go find out parents?"

The pink-haired girl nodded, taking hold of his elbow while he led the way.

"Oi! Teme!" was heard across the ballroom as a bobbing blonde head swam across the large crowd of flesh. Bursting through, Naruto panted exaggeratedly, giving them a grin. Following him was the rest of Shinobi and the girls. Seeing his older sister, he nearly tackled her as he gave her a crushing bear hug to which she responded with a knee to his stomach. "I-itai…Onee-sama…"

The girl only rolled her eyes without any sympathy and proceeded to greet everyone. _"Have you seen Koyuki-san?"_

The Uchiha nodded, asking Neji, "Sakura wants to know if you've seen Kazahana?"

Neji answered, "Yeah, she's by the stage and she wanted to talk to all of us together."

When they were at the stage, a young woman with black hair and blue eyes about the age of twenty-three saw them and beckoned them on the stage. Once on, she went towards Sakura, giving the musician a friendly hug. "Sakura-chan! It's been a while since I've seen you," she greeted happily.

Sakura only gave her another hug in return in a way of saying 'I miss you, too.'

"Come let's talk over the past weeks," Koyuki suggested with a smile until Sakura pulled on her arm. "Shinpai shinaide (1). I know sign language." Turning to Naruto and the rest of the band, she said, "Why don't you get ready, Naruto. You guys will be the opening act."

Naruto nodded and let Koyuki take his sister away before jumping around with a grin. "See how she referred to me _not _teme! Haha! Take that, asshole!" he boasted, not aware that the other guests were staring at him.

Everyone just rolled their eyes as Chouji went up, grabbed Naruto's ear (while ignoring his cries of pain), and dragged him to his area where his guitar was set. "Just start tuning your freakin guitar, moron."

Shikamaru snickered. "I couldn't have said that better myself," he replied, going over to his keyboard. "Oi, Sasuke"—said young man looked up from his seat on the stage floor—"How are the classes going for you and Sakura?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I find it easy to catch on, but I think Sakura is having some difficulties, considering it's much harder without sight," he answered as his best friend plopped down beside him. "But I'm sure she'll get better at it."

"Yeah, but didn't Tsunade-baachan said her surgery was going to take place on Spring Break?" Naruto asked while Sasuke nodded. "Then she doesn't have to worry about perfecting sign language, does she? Spring Break isn't that far off."

This time Neji interjected his thoughts. "Even so, Naruto, it would still seem like a long time away for your sister, and she'll need some way to communicate with others until that time."

The blonde gave a look of understanding. "Sou ka," he murmured until an exasperated expression was replaced. "Demo, Onee-sama hardly associates with anyone anyway. I mean the only people she'll only talk to, besides the family, are people she can tolerate."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "I guess that's true as well. I mean—"

"Hey guys. What happened to the girls? Weren't they here with us?" Chouji cut in as the band finally took notice of the missing girls.

The lazy young man shrugged his shoulders. "They're probably hanging out with Sakura and Kazahana."

The boys mumbled and went about their business. "Nee, Uchiha. Do you know what song you're going to be playing?" Neji asked, placing his guitar down.

"No, but I'll think of one eventually," was the Uchiha's reply.

"Well, when you do, let us know alright?" Shikamaru said and then remembered something. "That's right. Sasuke, have you met our new manager?"

"So this is where you are," a new voice interrupted them. All turned to see a silver hair man, which was swept to the left, however, his identity, was hidden under a mask.

_'Why the hell is he wearing a mask?' _was all of their thoughts.

The man came up to the band with a smile. "Konban wa (2). Hajimemashite (3). Hatake Kakashi desu (4)."

Sasuke stood up, dusted his pants, and took his time going over to Kakashi before taking the man's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Kakashi. I'm Uchiha Sasuke," the young man introduced himself, giving the elder man a certain look to which Kakashi nodded at.

In a low voice, Kakashi said, "I have a folder for you. I'll give it to you when the party's done."

Sasuke looked pleased about this. Finally, he was going to get some answers. "Well, I assume you met the rest of the band, right?" Kakashi nodded once. "Then let's going over this and next months' schedules, shall we?"

"Alright," Kakashi agreed. "But let's go somewhere a little quieter."

- _To _-

_6: 45…The girls…_

Meanwhile, with Sakura and the girls, they were in Koyuki's room talking. As they talked, Ino asked, "Nee, Sakura, what happened at Kazahana Institute?"

Sakura made a look of remembrance before scribbling on her notepad. _"Nothing much, really. I just got into a lot of trouble with the headmaster. That's all."_

"For what? Did beat people up or something?" Tenten said jokingly until she saw Sakura's head move up and down. "Nani?!"

"Tenten-chan!" Hinata reprimanded her for being loud. "Speak quieter."

The brunette stuck her tongue out.

Koyuki shook her head at the girls, laughing at their behavior. "Tonikaku (5) Sakura, how's living with that little devil, hmm? He treating you alright?" she asked casually, causing everyone to look at the blind girl with wide and curious eyes.

However, her response disappointed them. Sakura only shrugged, saying that he treats her fine and all that jazz. _"Demo…he is truly different when he's not with anyone else. Though, I'm not sure why."_

When she signed this, everyone twitched in disbelief. _'She doesn't know why?' _

"Ahem!" Ino cleared her throat, casually going to Sakura's side and slinging her arm around the girl's shoulders. "Alright, listen up, Miss Dense. Sasuke's different because of you. I think you influence the way he acts," she stated nonchalantly while the others tried to keep from laughing.

A pink brow lifted in skepticism.

"Eh! Don't give me that look. Before you came, Sasuke acted like he had a ten foot pole shoved up his ass while being fuck by another guy!"

"Ino-chan!" Hinata reprimanded yet again with a red face.

"What?! It's true!" she argued back while Tenten back her up.

"Uh-huh! That guy always wakes up and looks like he's been through the desert or something!" Tenten ended up laughing on the floor, though, and couldn't help any longer.

"Now, now girls. Let's not get carried away," Koyuki butted in. "You never know if they might be right outside the door."

_Outside the door…_

"Pfft! Aw man! You're getting burned so bad, bastard!" Naruto snickered with tears coming from the corner of his eyes.

"Grr…" said 'bastard' growled, getting ready to punch the blonde idiot.

Neji and Shikamaru held both Sasuke's arms while Chouji covered Naruto's mouth so they wouldn't be caught. In the background, Kakashi was leaning against the wall watching the scene with amusement.

"Why don't you bring those two downstairs?" he said, pushing off the wall. "The party is going to be in less than ten minutes. I'll get the girls."

- _My _-

_7:00 pm…Ballroom…_

Shinobi were in position as they were for the attention of the guests. Koyuki came onto the stage with Kakashi. The guests gave a round of applause until the young woman raised her hand. "Arigato, minna-san to my Fifth Annual Black & White Ball. This ball was actually a surprise dedicated to my friend, Haruno Sakura who survived the accident on the 1st of January. Let's give her an applause!" she announced as Sakura widen her eyes in shock.

_'S-she did this for me?' _Sakura thought, still in shock. _'Koyuki-san…'_

When the clapping quieted down, Kakashi took Koyuki's place. "Now let the party begin with Shinobi as the opening with their song "Selfish.""

The lights dimmed as spotlights were all pointed on Sasuke while Shikamaru started off the song with his keyboard. With that starting off the song, Chouji followed with his drums and cymbal as the spotlights moved around. The keyboard repeated this for forty seconds as the two guitarists strummed their instruments (Sasuke didn't need his guitar for this song).

Taking a deep breath and opening his eyes, Sasuke looked down to see Sakura's eyes looking upwards. He blinks at this, wondering why he suddenly felt scared, but shook it off to start singing.

_Nani mo ienai furi wo shiteru ima no kimi wa_

_Sou marude oyogu koto wo shiranai sakana_

He started at a slow paced, but quickly entered the bridge. All the while, Sasuke tried to keep his eyes off of Sakura, but couldn't help and stare into her green eyes. It was like she was the _siren _instead of him.

_Sore wo oshiete kureta no wa anata_

_Yureteru kono sekai wo kaete yuku _

_Shinjiteru ashita e_

As the lead vocalist sang, he sang very deeply unlike the other times. Looking at Sakura once more, Sasuke realized that she was the reason even for the first they met. He was putting his all because of her. Going into the chorus, Neji and Naruto followed as the back-ups and Shikamaru repeated the same tune from before.

_Tenohira ni koboreochiru nagashita namida wo daite_

_K__agayaita sono hitomi ni utsuru mono wa nani?  
Itsumademo_

Sasuke closed his eyes afterwards and let the keyboard and second guitar take over as he roamed in his thoughts. And all too soon his part came again. So opening his eyes, he saw some young people his age fighting the urge to scream. But all he saw was Sakura. So walking forward as he sang the song, he bent down so that he was near her and that she could feel him.

_Sou daremo ga atarimae no koto wo motomesugite  
Wasurete iru mienai taisetsu na mono_

Nanigenaku sugoshite iru nichijou no naka de  
Bokura ga hoshii no wa kegarete nai  
Ima wo ikiru akashi

_Tenohira ni koboreochiru nagashita namida wo daite  
Kagayaita sono hitomi ni utsuru mono wa nani?_

_D__oko made mo nagarete yuku keshiki no kioku no you ni  
Itsu made mo bokura wo tsutsumu tashika na mono wo daite_

Seeing in her expression that she knew he was there, Sasuke watched as she lifted her hand to his face, gently stroking. However, the two never even notice that the guest were staring at them with interest. The song then went into an instrumental part, allowing the two to linger with one another longer. Right when his part came again, Sakura slid her fingers down his face as if easing him.

Sasuke straightening up for the last two chorus with Neji and Naruto following him.

_Tenohira ni koboreochiru nagashita namida wo tomete  
Kagayaita sono hitomi ni utsuru mono wa nani?  
Doko made mo tsunagareteru uruonda hitomi no naka  
Itsu made mo_

Kasaneau kieru koto no nai tashika na omoi no you ni

_Kasaneau kieru koto no nai tashika na omoi wo daite_

Doko made mo tsuzuite iru kono michi no saki ni wa  
Kagayaita mirai no sugata tashika na mono wo daite

Naruto repeated after Sasuke as the the song soon faded into silence. It was quiet for a few seconds until the crowds began to clap their hands. Ino and Tenten were jumping and yelling for the boys while Hinata gave them an applause and Sakura just stood there. The shy Hyuuga turned to her friend with a smile.

"So how did you like Sasuke's singing?" she asked. "Was it good?"

Sakura nodded slowly until Ino draped an arm around her shoulder with Tenten doing the same to Hinata. Both girls had smirks on their faces. "So…" Ino started waving her hand nonchalantly in the air.

"We saw the way you two acted!" Tenten finished with a devilish grin. Ino laughed with Tenten, giving Sakura a hardy pat on the back. "Hinata was all blushing and—"

"Sakura didn't realize people were staring at her and Sasuke when he went down to her!" the blonde said jovially and sighed contently. "Man, you got Sasuke wrapped around your finger and don't even know it, Sakura."

The pink-haired girl only rolled her eyes in response. _"Maybe you're just jealous you couldn't get Shikamaru to do the same, Ino-san," _Sakura countered back as Ino gave a mocked gasp, placing a hand on her heart.

"Now that hurts, Billboard Brow," the blonde teased and was about to come back until a loud voice interrupted her.

"Onee-sama!" Naruto shouted, jumping off the stage, and giving his sister an embrace. "This is the first time you saw us perform, huh?! Did you like?"

Pushing him off her, Sakura glared in annoyance. _"Yes, it was good, Otoutou-kun," _she responded idly.

Sasuke moved past the blonde to get to his older sister. "Sakura," he called in relief. "Daijoubu?" He was by her side, checking to see if she was fine and that she wasn't hurt, even though, she was just standing there listening to the music.

Removing his hand from her face, she held it and nodded. _"Daijoubu, Sasuke-san. You did really well out there," _she complimented him.

While the two was still interacting with one another, the group of friends murmured about of their behavior. Ino leaned into her best friend's ear, whispering, "Nee, Shikamaru, isn't that creepy or what?"

Tenten and Hinata both agreed, nodding their heads. "Wasn't Sasuke just a bastard?" the tomboy asked with a twitching eye.

Neji sighed, patting his girlfriend's head. "Yeah well, he's a big softie at heart, Tenten. And he's got a sort of soft spot for the Namikaze over there."

Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't too fond of this. "Well, if he hurts my sister, I'm going to kick his ass all the way to Kumo!"

Back to Sasuke and Sakura, they were still talking about the performance with Sakura praising the Uchiha and he being inevitably modest about it. "Really, Sakura. It's nothing. It's just like you, right? We only do what we do best."

Sakura sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to win. _"Fine, but I still say that you're one of the best I've ever heard."_

"Hn, whatever," he muttered, bringing her to the stage where all of the musicians gathered to perform with Sakura conducting or playing with them. "Anyways, you should get ready. I'll be next to you to announce the piece that you'll be playing, alright?"

_7: 30 pm…_

After they were finally set up, Sakura's manager, Orikasa, came up and tapped on the microphone. "Attention, everyone, attention!" he called as the guests began to settle down once more. "Tonight, Haruno-san will be performing for the rest of the night and at the end, Shinobi will close the party." On the side, he turned to see Sasuke speaking with Sakura and waited until the Uchiha nodded, and then gave the microphone to the young man.

"As you all know, Miss Haruno cannot speak nor can she see, so I'll be translating the names of the pieces she will be playing for you," Sasuke told them, turning to Sakura to see if she was ready. Sakura nodded, allowing Sasuke to inform the crowd. "Tonight, she will be performing the traditional folk song, "Sakura," but in her own orchestral style." Afterwards, Sasuke went into a corner when he put the microphone back on the stand. The spotline was on Sakura as she bowed to the guests and took up her violin, beginning the song.

Instead of the traditional agonizingly slow beginning, as Sakura's first musician played his viola in the perfect pace, until the koto came in with the rest of the other instruments. The koto repeated the same note that the musician played with his viola, but slower, taking in each note. The man then faded back in with his viola with a higher pitch, then brought it down to a more sad pitch as Sakura joined in with her violin as she moved her body to the rhythm of the music. The the cello in the background brought more emotion forth, following Sakura's note.

Then the koto came up again with the other string instruments bringing up the climax of the song into a different melody from the traditional song. Sakura closed her eyes more, concentrating on what she felt into her playing before bringing the song back to its beginning.

The audience watched in awe as the girl played her violin in unity with the rest of the instruments. This was a new song that she came up with her other pieces, but had yet to perfect it until yesterday. She knew that Sasuke was still practicing with the band, so had Orikasa bring her to her recording studio to do some changes to the song. She originally only had it with the orchestral type of style, but then decided to add the koto to it only with the rest of the small background music, and this is what she got.

The koto repeated a pattern of jumping as the violin and viola began to scattered, thus ending the song with Sakura dragging out the last note with the koto. The lights faded back to brightness as Sakura gave a bow to the crowd as they clapped for her. For them to clap so enthusiastically because it amazed them at how well she could play despite being blind.

And so the night went on with the young composer playing some of her old pieces and Shinobi ending it. As everyone headed home, Sasuke went over to Kakashi when he left Sakura with her younger brother. The two went into a corner and spoke in low voices. The older man handed the Uchiha a thick manila folder.

"Sasuke, there's something you should know about Sakura," he murmured in a grave tone. "But first, do you know anything about Orochimaru?"

The raven-haired man shook his head 'no' with a curious expression. "Iya, nande?"

Kakashi's eye averted to across the room where Sakura was being hugged by Koyuki while receiving praise from the guest before turning back to Sasuke. "Well, he's one of the most dangerous gang leader. He used to live in Konoha until he was banished," Kakashi explained. "Anyways, just watch out for her."

Nodding, Sasuke took the folder and put it in his guitar case, and then went over to Sakura to bring her home with him.

_Song_ -

_12: 17 am…Uchiha Estate…_

The door slammed loudly as Sasuke through his overcoat on the hanger with a heavy sigh. After he took off his shoes, he saw Sakura waiting for him. Going up to her, he brush his thumb gently across her cheek while she did the same. It was apparent that whatever happened between them stayed that way. They didn't even realize that their actions were considered intimate. To them, it was the only way for them to feel comforted and not lonely. Finally, Sasuke sighed and took Sakura's hand, pulling her behind him up the stairs to his room.

"Get some rest, alright? Tomorrow we have school, and then we have to go to that class again," Sasuke told her before standing up, patting her head, and leaving the room while shutting off the lights. "Night, Sakura." The young woman answered with a wave.

After Sasuke shut the door with the folder still in his hands, he turned to his right and headed towards the east wing to his study. As he walked the hall, his eyes lingered on some of the family portraits from when he was still a child. But there was one that made him stop on his way. It was his father and himself, only he was still a baby then—probably one years old. His father, Fugaku, was smiling in this picture which Sasuke find a bit odd. How can he not find it odd? After all, his father only adored Itachi, always giving him praise and such. All Fugaku gave him was criticism and comparing him to Itachi. Never once have he been given any praise or words of love from his father. But…his mother, Mikoto, said that when she was alone with him all he talks about is him. _'As if…' _Sasuke thought bitterly before going into his study.

Flipping on the switch, the room lit up in a dim light as Sasuke made his way over to his mahogany desk which was organized from top to bottom in smallest to large. Sighing, the Uchiha sat in his rolling recliner, throwing the folder onto the surface of the desk. Placing his face in between his hands as his fingers rubbed his temple, Sasuke looked at the folder with narrowed eyes before deciding to read the contents. And as he read, his obsidian eyes slowly widen…

* * *

So? Did you like it? I hope so because there's more to come! Oh yeah, I've already finished writing chapter IV to "Remember You, Always," so if you want me to update that, please make sure you review! Alright time for some lessons!

(1) Shinpai Shinaide - "Don't worry."

(2) Konban wa - "Good evening."

(3) Hajimemashite - "It's nice to meet you."

(4) Hatake Kakashi desu - "I'm Hatake Kakashi."

(5) Tonikaku - "Anyway..."

Okay, that's it for the time being! Thanks for taking the time to read and to ignore my horrible grammar mistakes. Go to my profile to check out the songs! But you might have to type out the websites now since fanfic is being an ass!

Please have the common courtesy to review. Thanks. If you have any questions, concerns, or problems, please contact me in a review or pm me. Again, I ask a favor of any of you who's willing to please find me the translation to "Selfish." That way I can actually repost this and get it edited! Thanks! See ya next time! Oh, don't forget if those of you who want to read Chapter IV of "Remember You, Always," please review!

_Sincerely,_

_Holly_

Final Word Count: 6, 302


	7. Chapter VII: Challenges

Well, I'm back again! This time with some goodies in store for you! There's some fluff or lime whatever you want to call it at the end of the chapter! Flime! LUFF! Anyways, didn't I tell you that I'm starting to update more?! Well, hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter! Yeah, I wrote this listening to "Love You More" from Trespassers William (they rock!). Well...I'll be working on "Wintry Dawn" next! Have fun reading!

Disclaimer: Man, I wish I was rich!

* * *

_Chapter VII: Challenges_

_By: Winter's Holly_

"_Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.__"-Joseph Campbell_

_11__th__ of February…Friday…Hyuuga Mansion…6: 00 pm…_

_-_

_-_

"Blah, blah, blah!" Naruto droned with a face of boredom as he stared at Kakashi. "Yeah, so we have a shitload of concerts; so what?"

A month has passed by quickly for everyone especially for Sasuke and Sakura. The two of them are constantly on the go. Wake up, eat breakfast (forcing Sakura to eat), go to school, afterwards to the sign language class, have dinner with some rich people, and/or have a concert, and finally home. Their lives were hectic and busy, and the next three days are going to be the busiest, considering Valentine's Day was coming up; which brought up the reason why they all met up at the Hyuuga's place to hold the meeting and why Naruto is complaining.

The silver-haired man glanced briefly at the blonde before sighing. "Naruto," he called heavily at the young man, "In three days is Valentine's Day and what do you think people are going to be doing?"

Blue eyes blinked a couple of times before the owner shrugged. "I don't know—sleeping," Naruto answered with a frown.

It was then that Sasuke smacked him upside his head where both Kakashi and Sakura sighed and shook their heads. "Dobe; they're celebrating and that means there will be lovey-dovey shit going around," stated the Uchiha as his face twisted into a grimace at the thought of it. Soon, the whole living was enveloped in silence.

Sakura, being the only girl at the moment (the others are shopping), tilted her head in confusion and pulled on Sasuke's sleeve (he sat on her left, Naruto right). _"Doushita no?" _Sakura asked him and Sasuke just twitched.

Naruto saw the stoic young man's looked of skepticism and snickered, diverting his sister's attention. "Well, Onee-sama, Valentine's Day is a very hectic day for musicians like us, as you know. Demo"—his eyes glanced at Sasuke with glee—"For Teme over here, he is damn popular with the girls."

Sakura just nonchalantly sighed as she leaned back into the couch. _"I know how Sasuke-san feels; I always cancel all of my concerts on this day," _she responded grimly.

"Well, if Sakura is going to be with Sasuke all day, wouldn't be dangerous for her?" Neji brought up, looking at the masked man.

Sakura waved her hand blindly in the air to catch anyone who's paying attention to her. Shikamaru noticed and said, "Yes Sakura?"

_"I'll just stay home," _the young musician shrugged uncaringly. _"I have some things I need to take care of, anyway; however, it's better that I go alone."_

This statement caused everyone to be a little uncertain. The thought that Sakura, a blind girl, go out by herself in the midst of all this commotion wasn't really comforting. But it seemed that Naruto was the only who understood what she meant by going alone. So as he sighed, he stood up and took Sakura's arm, dragging her into another room of the mansion. When they were out of hearing range, Naruto grabbed her shoulders and looked straight into her dull eyes which were losing color more quickly than he had thought.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, his older sister turned her head away like a little child which peeved him more. "Onee-sama, you don't plan to meet up with them again, are you?" he questioned seriously.

With him peeved, Sakura was getting annoyed more and more by the minute. _"This isn't any of your business," _she wrote on her notepad. _"Stay out of my way." _With that, she stomped off back into the living room and ignored everyone's gaze.

Sasuke lifted a brow and took her small hand into his. "Daijoubu desuka?" he asked with concern when he saw her frown.

The girl kept quiet and leaned onto his shoulder, closing her eyes as if to sleep.

"Is Sakura okay?" Chouji then asked.

"She won't tell me," the Uchiha sighed. "Maybe I should bring her home. She hasn't been getting much sleep lately." Without asking, Sasuke took her into his arms and went to the door as his manager opened it. From the corner of his eye, he saw his best friend leaning on the door frame of the kitchen with a frown on his usually cheerful face. And with no light shining on his face, he looked even more suspicious. Sasuke watched as Naruto glare at him before the blonde left. He looked down at the girl in his arms bewildered. _'What happened to these two?' _he wondered curiously as he gently laid Sakura on the seat. After closing the door, Sasuke jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine. Rolling down his window, Kakashi stood with hands in his pockets. "Just call me tomorrow to start practice," he told the man before driving off. The Hyuuga mansion was on the other side of the city which meant it would take Sasuke, at least, an hour to get home. Letting out a faint sigh, Sasuke relaxed in his seat and drove with one hand.

A movement to his right caught his attention. Sakura unbuttoned a couple buttons of her blouse and took in a deep breath. She rolled down her window, hoping to get some fresh air in. _'My head hurts…' _she thought, dropping her head to the side while instinctively grabbing Sasuke's hand. The kanji on her chest began to burn slightly as she hissed in pain.

This alarmed the young man beside her. "Sakura? What's wrong? Sakura?" he called and called, but she didn't response. She only tightened her grip on his hand. Checking his rearview mirror for any cars behind him, Sasuke signaled to the right as he pulled over and parked the car. Instantly, he grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Damn it! What the hell is wrong, Sakura?!" he demanded again and saw that her hand was clutching tightly on her blouse. Something caught his eyes as he yanked her shirt aside. The character was so bright orange now as if burning into her skin. But it wasn't that that was causing her the immense pain. Black markings began to crawl across her skin like serpents. He looked at her face and can see that her eyes seemed to be a lot greener than it did before.

"S-Sa…Sa…S-Sasu…" Her voice was hoarse and low, but he heard it. Everything that was happening was confusing him more than anything.

Seeing the black marks again, Sasuke decided to pull her shirt back more and he saw it. It was the mark he had seen in the photo that Kakashi gave him a month ago. _'This is the Heaven Curse Mark he was talking about,' _Sasuke realized as it spread through her body. _'So that means she's still bound to this Orochimaru person.' _Seeing how quickly it was spreading, Sasuke muttered an apology before hitting the pressure point on her neck. When he set her down properly, Sasuke shifted his gears once more and raced to the hospital instead.

-_Obstacles-_

_6: 45 pm…Konoha Hospital…_

_-_

_-_

The automatic doors slid open silently as the young Uchiha rushed in, carrying the unconscious Haruno in his arms. Without waiting for the receptionist, Sasuke just ran down the hall ignoring the nurse's call. It was a good thing he had photographic memory. He was able to get to Tsunade's office within ten minutes. Careful not to drop Sakura, he pushed the door open where Shizune stood in the middle of the room with documents in hand and the doctor he was looking for sat in her desk, her hand halfway raised to receive the documents. Both were startled at the sudden entry and because of the fact that Uchiha Sasuke was carrying Haruno Sakura.

Immediately, Tsunade stood and quickly walked to the Uchiha's side. "What's wrong with her?" she questioned as she began checking the unconscious girl's pulse. "Did something happen?"

"You tell me." His tone was angry and frustration, but his face didn't show it. "Where can I put her?"

Shizune went to open the door to the left of Tsunade's desk which led to an examining room. "You can put her here, Uchiha-kun. Is she asleep?"

As he laid her down, Sasuke briefly brushed her hair away from her face. He kept her head in his arm while unbuttoning her shirt. "I knocked her out to stop this from spreading further," he stated emotionlessly and pointed to the back base of Sakura's neck. "And"—he pointed to the character on her chest—"this thing was burning her. Now please tell me what's going on." The doctor was speechless. Her fingers lightly brushed over the markings, careful not to wake her patient. "I asked Kakashi to get me information on her and it stated that she was a part of many organizations, but none as big as 'Oto.' The man named Orochimaru was the leader. And do you know what I found out to be interesting? You were his teammate in the military."

Knowing that she's been caught, Tsunade can only sigh as she went to take a seat in her stool. "Shizune, close the door," the woman ordered with high authority in her tone. She leaned her elbow onto the counter beside her. Absentmindedly, she began to finger the necklace that he often saw she wore. "Well, all three of us were put together as a team when we were in the military, alright," Tsunade began quietly as Sasuke took a seat on the brown bed and placed Sakura's head on his lap.

"San _(1)_?" the young man repeated.

The blonde nodded. "I'm sure you heard of Jiraiya; he's the man who taught Sakura's father," Tsunade answered as she gestured to the girl. "Anyways, the three of us have been together for a long time until Orochimaru slowly began to get corrupt with power. We were suspicious of it for a while; however, we didn't really think it would happen." Her gaze wandered over to Sasuke again and she almost wanted to chuckle to see his expressionless face. "You're an Uchiha, are you not?" the boy nodded in response. She scoffed. "You better watch yourself then if you're going to be around her for a long time," Tsunade warned.

"Nande?" he asked curtly.

At this, Tsunade stood and strolled over to the two and kneeled in front of Sakura. The look in her eyes made Sasuke think that she would protect this girl forever. "How do you think she got caught, this fragile girl?" No answer. "It's because she's a Namikaze. Her looks are her mother's, but her genius comes from her father. This child is the prodigy in the family. That's why. Orochimaru is only after someone this rare. I'm sure he went after your brother as well," she muttered, continuing to stroke her cheek. "Sakura lost her voice because she rebelled against him. So in order to stop her from spilling the secrets, he—"

"He destroyed her larynx," Sasuke finished quietly as another realization came upon him. "Then…he was the cause of her leaving six years ago? He threatened her using her family as bait so that she'd go with him! That bastard!"

The doctor chuckled lightly at his catching on so quickly. _'He really is an Uchiha. Very perceptive and clever,' _she thought with a smile. "I met Sakura during that same year when I was on a business trip."

_Six years ago…Ame…_

_Thunder rumbled in the skies, shaking the grounds as the pedestrians hurried home. Tsunade and Shizune were also trying to get back to the hotel they were staying at. But the traffic was so hectic that everyone pushed and shoved just to get a decent step forward. One man pushed the woman into Shizune roughly and didn't even to apologize. With twitching eyes and a pulsing vein, Tsunade growled and yanked on the man's collar. _

_"What the hell?! Just 'cause you're big, you think you could push people around, eh?!" she screamed, causing all the attention to avert to her._

_Shizune gave a nervous and embarrassed laugh at the passerby's. "L-Lady Tsunade, please calm down," the young assistant urged._

_"No, this buddy needs to learn that he's not the only one stuck out in this damn weather!" Tsunade shouted, this time shaking him back and forth until he pulled free from her. "That's right, ya damn dumbass! Run away with your tail between your legs!"_

_The people around murmured at how insane she was, but Tsunade didn't care. She couldn't stand people like that. _'Damn lack of manners!' _Taking a deep breath, she looked at how soaked she was and slumped over._

_"Ehehe…i-it's not so bad, Tsunade-sama," Shizune comforted as they stopped at the crosswalk. As the thunder sounded once more and lightning cracked against the sky, the people in the back yelped or shouted._

_"Hey, watch it kid!" one man yelled._

_Another woman let out a disgusted cry. "So filthy! Stay away!"_

_All of these cries didn't interest the now depressed woman one bit until a small force caught her attention. She was going to yell again when a flash of pink stopped her. _'A child?' _she thought and saw that the lights haven't turned green. _

_"Hey! Stop!" When she was going to grab the child's hand, she had already jumped across the roofs of the cars passing by. Her hands were numb and her brown eyes widen in surprise. "S-she just…she…"_

_"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune called worriedly._

_Snapping around, she began to speak when a speck of red on her hand caught her interest. A frown immediately replaced her curiosity. "This is blood," she muttered. The lights turned green and the citizens pushed their way quickly across the intersection. "Shizune, we have to find that child. I have a really bad feeling."_

_Present…_

"And so, we went after her and found that Sakura was bleeding from the mouth," Tsunade explained. "I brought her back to the hotel with me and tended to her carefully like glass. She was so thin when I first saw her, and stubborn as well." She laughed at the memory of trying to get Sakura into the water. "But when I woke the next morning, she had already left. So I was quite shock when I saw her again a month ago. I was even more surprised when she recognized me."

Sasuke, quiet as ever, gazed at the girl in his laps intensely. Out of habit now, he'd always caress her face before kissing her forehead. The whole time it looked as if he had forgotten that Tsunade and Shizune were in the room. Finally, he looked at the doctor again. "I won't let him take her," he declared boldly. "I'll protect her no matter what."

Blinking at the sudden fierceness and determination in his declaration, Tsunade laughed and patted his shoulders. "I'm sure you'll do a good job, Uchiha," she praised with a smile.

"Ah, Uchiha-kun, would you like some prescriptions for you addiction?" Shizune suddenly asked.

His dark brows furrowed at the random question. "Nani?"

"Well, Sakura-chan said you've been smoking and she wanted to try and help to stop," she explained.

Sasuke's left eye twitched. "Did she now?" he said stiffly. "Stupid girl. She can't even take care of herself and she's worrying about others."

Tsunade chuckled and stood up to stretch. "Are you not the same, Uchiha Sasuke?" she questioned with a lifted brow. "You worry about your friends, but put up a façade to hide it. She does, too."

"Ore—"

A shift of weight distracted Sasuke as he glanced down at Sakura who as finally beginning to wake. She blinked a couple of times, slowly rising to a sitting position. She rubbed her eyes and yanked on Sasuke's sleeves, knowing he'd be beside her.

Knowing her question, he answered, "We're at the hospital."

At this, she snapped her head in his direction with wide eyes. _"Why?"_

"You were having…" how should he put it?

"You were having an attack from your curse seal, Sakura," Tsunade cut in.

Her pink head lowered as her hands turned into fists. Sasuke saw this and loosened her hands, rubbing his thumb in small circles on the back of her hands. "Oh, that's right," he remembered. "During her "attack," it looked like her eyesight was coming back and she tried to talk. How's that possible?"

Placing a hand underneath her chin, Tsunade thought about his answers. "Well, the curse seal works to enhance your abilities. So I think that as it tried to take over, some of her cells were being remade," she explained, "However"—she quickly added seeing the two eyes' widen—"it's bad to have your cells regenerate so quick. It will only shorten your life. So you're still going to do the surgery, Sakura."

In response, Sakura rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders as if saying, "It couldn't be helped."

"Now then, having you been getting a lot of vitamins, proteins, and minerals into your body, Sakura?" Tsunade began her interrogation as a doctor, pulling out a clipboard and pen.

The young woman slumped over, knowing that this was going to take a while. Sasuke, noticing this, gave a small smirk and ruffled her hair. "Yes, I've been forcing her to eat a lot," he responded smugly.

-_Difficulties-_

_8: 56 pm…Uchiha Estate…_

_-_

_-_

"Good evening, young master," his butler greeted. "Lady Haruno."

Sasuke nodded in response while Sakura bowed. "You can go home now. I'll make dinner," Sasuke said, taking off his jacket while taking Sakura's as well and hanging it on the hanger. "Have a good night."

"Thank you, sir. You as well," responded the butler back. After a few minutes, he was already gone.

Turning to Sakura, Sasuke smiled gently and placed his hand on her cheek. He watched as she leaned into his warm touch, keeping his hand there with her own hand. Every time they were together alone like this, it makes him forget all of his worries. He knew he would sound a little corny, but her presence was all he needed to be happy. He didn't know if it was because she couldn't see when he was like this or because he pitied; but, whatever it was, he was content. Taking her small form into his arms, he placed a kiss on her forehead again and leaned his cheek on the top of her head as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. It was the same routine. After they'd get home and bid the butler or maid farewell, they'd stand like this for thirty minutes until he told to go to sleep or take a shower. But, he can feel that something was different. He can just sense. He was aware that their relationship couldn't go beyond that of friendship, but he wanted more. Even though it's only been a month, he wanted more than just her friendship. He wanted everything that she could give. He just wanted her. Just her.

_'Just you…' _his mind thought as his body acted on its own. His left hand tangled themselves into her long, silky locks as his right traced a trail of fire down her spine and onto her waist. Pushing her body closer, he could feel her heartbeat quicken at the sudden affection. His lips brushed like a feather against the hollow of her ear, his breath sending shivers all over her body. He opened one eye to see her eyes were closed as a light pink blush filled her face. As he brought his lips down further on her neck, he felt her fists clutching the front of his shirt tightly. Her breathing grew heavily with each passing moment. Finally, Sasuke brought his lips to the base of her neck, kissing it softly. At that moment, her arms wrapped around his torso bringing his body closer to hers and to support her fast weakening legs.

Uncannily, Sasuke sensed this and placed his hands on her hips and effortlessly lifted her onto his waist. Stumbling clumsily to the living room, he slowly lowered her on the couch without removing his lips from her skin. When he felt her fingers tugging roughly on his scalp, he couldn't help but growl and bite on the skin he's been kissing. She hissed, but didn't seem to want to push him away. Sasuke pulled away briefly to look at her face. Her eyes slowly opened as her fingers slid down his face. However, they traced over the shaped of his lips gently. A smile played on his lips as he gave into her unspoken request. Hesitantly, he took her soft pink lips with his, massaging it softly. After a second or two, he pulled away and quickly went back for more. The sensation that he was feeling at that moment was completely different from what he felt when he was with girls when he was fifteen. This small girl beneath him was the cause of this feeling. It wasn't just lust he felt. He felt the need to be with her. He knew she was pouring out every emotion in each kiss they shared at that stop in time. Doing so like he did many other times, he began to unbutton the rest of her blouse, but slowly. She was different from other girls. Even though, she was distant, she was so kind and sincere. She'd only hurt herself to protect others.

"Sakura…" he whispered lovingly, placing a kiss at the hollow of her throat. Her back arched, pushing her chest into his. When he was done with her shirt, he proceeded to kiss the cream white slopes of her full breasts. It was there that he noticed the kanji of fire.

_'Fire…power and passion…' _he mused, kissing her there as well.

But…it seems that all good things must come to an end. Right as he did that, it snapped Sakura back to reality. Her small, dainty pushed him away as she quickly sat upright. Pulling her shirt back on, she signed a "sorry" before running away and up the stairs to her room. All Sasuke could do was sit and stare at where she had sat. He glanced back at his hands that touched her so passionately. Then there were his lips that felt and tasted her. A fierce blush invaded his cheeks as he attempted to wipe it away with the back of his hand.

_'What the hell was I thinking? That's Uzumaki's sister!' _he reprimanded himself, feeling ashamed that he even went that far with his best friend's sister. Standing up while sighing, Sasuke fixed himself and went into the kitchen to make dinner. _'Well, what's done is done.'_

_­_-_Resistance-_

_Sakura's room…Shower…_

_-_

_-_

As the shower head ran with steaming hot water, Sakura stood motionless as the water continued to soak her completely. Her hair fell over her flushed face as her hands tried to stop her fast beating heart. She dropped to the floor, hugging herself tightly. She knew she shouldn't continue this anymore. She couldn't be affectionate with Sasuke anymore if she wants him to be safe. _'I can't open myself up anymore…he'll only get hurt…'_

* * *

SO?! HOW WAS THAT?! AWESOME RIGHT?! GO ON! YOU CAN PRAISE ME! LOL! JUST KIDDING! KAY! JAPANESE LESSONS!

(1) San - three

That's it. I know. Really short! Man, I'm so proud of myself! Getting back in the groove! Haha!

Anyways, please...please! If you read the story, please review. I cannot stress how I want you guys to review. It's the only reason why I went back to writing you know! My email was filled with reviews, holy crap! I was so freakin happy! Haha! Anyways, just have the courtesy to review!

Sincerely,

Holly

Fina Word Count: 4, 012 words


	8. Announcement

Announcement:

Hey guys, I am sorry to say this, but I will no longer continue any of the fanfics. I'm just so busy with college and frankly I'm just too depressed nowadays to continue writing at all. Right now, I'm going through a tough time and would like to wish to be by myself as of now. I'm sorry, but if there is anyone who is willing to continue the stories, let me know and I'll let you have them. Thanks you guys. It's been real.

Sincerely,

Holly

Happy Thanksgiving


	9. Contest

Okay, apparently, there are a lot of people who want to take over my stories. So how about this, I have six stories that need to be continued and they are:

"Different Stars" – SatoRisa, Rated M, Romance/Drama

"Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek" – SasuSaku, Rated M, Romance/Drama

"Remember You, Always" – SasuSaku, Rated M, Romance/Drama/Angst

"The White Rose" – SasuSaku, Rated M, Romance/Drama/Angst

"What It Means To Live" – SasuSaku, Rated M, Romance/Drama/Angst

"Wintry Dawn" – SasuSaku, Rated M, Romance/Drama/Supernatural

I'm sure you all know what the summaries are, so I'll not bother to rewrite that. So here's the deal, peeps. For each story, I will give the limit to five people who want that particular story. Then from the five I pick, I want a short story of those characters. I want you guys to email it to me that way I'll read it and pick my choice. Not only that, I'll also let the readers get the chance to read the stories from five of the authors for the each fic.

Get what I am saying? Basically, I'll pick five authors for each of my six fics. Then, I want a story from each of you. I want to see your writing style and if I like it, I'll let you be the successor to the fic. So the one story that will win, I will post as the new chapter. Got it? And let the contest begin!


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